The Project and the Plumber
by KingChaotixX7
Summary: Most people know the story of the Thousand Year Door. But what if it had played out a little bit differently? What would happen if an actual human from Earth was thrown into the mix?
1. Chapter 1:Freedom, Fights, and Friends

**Chapter 1:Freedom, Fights, and Fascination**

**(Hey, It's King again! This time, I'll take a little change of pace and work on this Mario story as well! It's my first romance story and some of the characters will have some more human characteristics, so give me some reviews and feedback! There will be lemons in this fanfic. This will be taking place during the Thousand Year Door saga and the characters will be in 3D and not paper form. All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners.)**

Hello, my name is Rick Evans. I'm 20 years old, and i'm black. I'm kind of slender and i'm about 6'7. I have a flat nose, blue eyes, black hair and black eyebrows. My usual clothes through this whole thing is a black long sleeve turtleneck that's made of a special carbon fiber that's made specifically for combat as well as my black pants. The shirt had a white middle zipper opening. I had a white t-shirt on. Let's take a look at my life and how this crazy adventure began...

I actually started out as just an innocent child. I lived in Miami, Florida. My parents were murdered when I was 5 years old. I never really had anyone to rely on after they died. One day, I was abducted by multiple men in black suits and taken into a black van. I was so scared because I had no clue what was going to happen to me. I had my eyes closed the whole time. When we stopped, I finally opened my eyes again and saw a large building. I didn't know what was going on at the time, why it was happening, or even where I was. I did the moment I had realized what was going on, I was knocked out cold from behind. Since that very moment, I became the government's little lab rat. It wasn't all bad, though. I was treated with plenty of food and care. It was mostly because one of the scientists said that my own genetic code is different than other humans. I was trained in fitness, got injected with all sorts of crap in syringes, taught about all sorts of basic education, and I was even taught how to fight. I learned all sorts of combat styles such as American Karate, American Kenpo, Bojuka, Bok Fu, Close Quarters Combat, Chun Kuk Do, Collegiate wrestling, Danzan-ryū, Emerson Combat Systems, Jailhouse rock (52 Hands Block/JHR), Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, Modern Army Combatives, S.C.A.R.S. (military), and even Shootfighting. (American). I learned all of that and a few sword fighting styles after being stuck in that facility for 15 years.

Constant experiments and medical procedures ended up giving my genetic code a complete overhaul and practically made me a demigod. Through some incidents in the past, some parts of my body was exchanged for the highest grade of mechanical weaponry. I learned how to jump into the air for miles, gained super speed, digitize and create weapons of my own if need be, fly with special anti-gravity power, and create extra arms from my back for more fighting power. My strength even allowed me to move, carry, and withstand at least 600 tons of pressure and my skin made me almost invincible to weapon fire. I could even drain an opponent of all of their powers and abilities when they were beaten. I was grateful for getting all of the powers and everything, but part of me wanted to go outside and see the outside world again. I've always made pleas with my superiors about leaving the place, but it never happened. Then one night, I learned about their future plans for me. I was walking through one of the hallways when I overheard Science Director Dr. Levins talking with General Fisher...

"Damn it, man! When is Project Alpha going to be ready!? Our tax dollars are paying for your little human test tube because he is the key for our troops becoming stronger! Why is this taking so long!?"

"I can assure you that all of our efforts in truly harnessing Project Alpha's true potential will not be in vain. Thankfully, he can still reproduce which means that he can help create a new version of humanity. He is truly the next step in evolution. Once we unlock his true power, he will become our ultimate weapon! No force in the world will ever dare to oppose us again!"

"You better have soon good results soon, maggot!"

I heard the footsteps of the General walking in my direction. I had to act fast. I grew my four extra arms, jumped up, and grabbed on to the ceiling to not be seen. It's a good thing I practiced stealth every now and then. After the General had passed by, I knew what I had to do.

"Ok, that settles it. I have to get out of here. These bastards really do only see me as a weapon!" I thought.

I immediately rushed back to my room to collect all of my things. They all treated me like a normal person growing up until now. I had gathered up everything that I had owned into a special duffel bag that can carry almost anything. I tossed in my iPad, Jawbone Jukebox(look it up), and even some pistols and knives that I had. I also activated a secret compartment underneath my bed that had a weapons and ammo cache. It had assault rifles, sub machine guns, riot shields and more. I stuffed everything into the bag and got ready to rush out when suddenly...

(Multiple Guns are Cocked Back)

I turn around to see that multiple Black Ops soldiers have all of their guns pointed at me! Dr. Levin walked in front of them after they made a gap for him to pass by. He was smiling as he had given the impression that he knew that I had no way out.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I must say that I am very disappointed in you, Mr. Evans. Trying to run away from the very people who raised you, cared for you, and helped you when you had nothing?" sighed Dr. Levins.

"Stay away you bastards! Especially you, Director! You were never going to let me go! You would have gladly kept me around for your own selfish needs until I was of no further use to you!" I yelled angrily.

"Oh come now, Mr. Evans. What would possibly ever give you the idea that we would do that?" asked the Director.

"I heard what you said to the General."

"Well, then it seems that someone knows a little bit too much. No matter. All it will take is a bit of brain surgery to change your mind."

"I would rather die!" I snapped.

"That can be arranged. We have more subjects like you in stasis. I'm sure that we can afford to lose one more. Prepare to open fire on my signal."

"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! Is this really the end?" I thought to myself.

As I panicked about the status of my current situation, I started praying to God in hopes that I would make it out of here alive.

"Dear lord in heaven, I truly hope that you can hear my plea. Please, grant me this one single wish..."

"Ready..."

"It is my only single and true desire. I wish to be in another world..."

"Aim..."

"A world where... I can truly be free!" I yelled out loud.

"Granted."

After hearing a voice come from out of nowhere, I turn around to find a blinding light appear right behind me. It engulfed me and I began to black out...

**Unknown Location, Unknown Time**

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ugh... Huh? Where am I?"

I awaken to find myself... Falling from the sky!?

"Oh shit!"

I look for some decent ground to land on when I notice that I was about to land in a boating dock and that five unknown people were in the very spot where I was going to fall.

**"LOOK OUT BELOW!"**

As I yelled my warning, I landed on my feet between both sides of people and created a small crater where I crashed. The impact from the fall sent a serious shock through my body. Normally, I can handle that kind of stuff, but since I wasn't ready... Well... you know.

"Ouch... The least that freakin' light could've done was put me on the ground! Damn it all!"

I shook the fall off and noticed that a man in red and blue overalls and a young girl was standing right behind me. They were both pretty shocked to find a random dude falling from the sky. Then again, who wouldn't be?

"Outta my way, punk!" said another voice.

I turned to my front to notice a tubby man dressed in black with a white x on the front of his clothing. He wore black shoes and white gloves as well. He goggles on his eyes, a hat with horns, a red beard, and a red cape. He spoke in a tough and mean voice. I noticed that there were two more guys wearing clothes like his. Although they were wearing goggles, the both of them had red shirts with black x's on them, white boots, white gloves, and white hats. The large one snapped at me again trying to get my attention.

"Hey, I said move it!"

He charged and attempted to ram into me, but I moved to my left and tripped him.

The man behind me took out a hammer and whacked the fat man in the head.

"U mad, bro?" I taunted.

"You little...!"

He regained his balance and tried to punch me in the head, but he only ended up breaking his knuckles in the process.

"Gah! Dang it! That hurts!"

"You done making an idiot out of yourself, fat boy?"

"Lord Crump!" Yelled one grunt.

"Sir! Are you alright?" Yelled another.

I took advantage of that moment and grabbed him. I used my extra arms to hold on to him and make sure that he couldn't escape. I launched him into the air. I pulled back all of my arms and got ready for the next attack.

**"SOLID KNUCKLE STORM!"**

I sent what looked like hundreds of fists flying at him at high speed hitting him everywhere on his body. Everyone that was watching awed in amazement. I like to see him shrug that off. After he fell down to the ground after roughly 437 punches, I walked up to him and stooped down.

"Make a good mental note of what just happened, fat ass. You will never defeat me." I said to him.

His grunts pushed me out of the way and scraped him up. After they got him, Crump looked at me with what I believe was a smirk. It was hard to tell since his clothes was covering his face.

"Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh! Ok, you got a couple decent shots in, I'll give you that. But...unfortunately for you, that means... **IT'S GO TIME!**

As he said that, hundreds of grunts came out of nowhere and gathered all around us.

"Real brave, you pussy. You can't fight me so you send your buddies to do all of the work for you? Pfft, some leader you are."

**"SHUT UP! PUNISH HIM!"**

At that very moment, the entire mob of grunts dove right into us. Unbelievably, they all miss us completely and the young girl finds a way out.

"Quick! This way!" Yelled the girl.

Me and the man in red and blue manage to get out the same way she did.

"Phew! What a bunch of loons! Let's just sneak out of here, what do you say?" Whispered the girl.

The man nodded.

"I'm with you guys, so let's make like trees and get the fuck outta here." I said.

As we sneaked our way into the main square, we managed to catch our breaths. The young girl went up to me and the man.

"Whew... Thanks, you two! You guys are real life savers! I have just GOT to give you a little reward!" Said the girl.

She went up to the other guy and kissed him on the cheek. After that she walked up to me and whispered in my ear...

"Don't worry, cutie. I have a special little "reward" for you in mind... Anyway, my name's Goombella. I'm a student at the University of Goom. Nice to meet ya! So, uh... Who are you two?"

After she introduced herself, I got a good, overall look at her. Goombella looked like a girl in her early 20s. She had some nice thighs and her breast size appeared to be a C-Cup. She had brown eyebrows, a fang coming from her lower jaw, and she had brown eyes with eyelashes. She held a closed, green book in her right hand and had her left had on her left hip. She had brown gloves and boots. I thought that she looked really cute.

"The name's Rick. Rick Evans. It's a pleasure to meet you, Goombella!" I said in a happy tone.

The man beside me introduced himself as Mario.

"...Mario? Wait, you mean like that famous guy? Wow! I can't believe I met you here! Cool... Anyway, no offense, but it looks like you just rolled into town yourself. Right?"

Mario nodded yes to her comment.

"Me, I already HATE it here! There are freaks and weirdos. EVERYWHERE! It's nasty! I mean, I know the place is called Rogueport, so I should have expected it, but sheesh! I'd never come to a place like this if there weren't some legendary treasure here."

Mario was surprised by what she said about a legendary treasure and started to mention that he was he for the same reason.

"What? You're looking for the legendary treasure, too? Seriously?"

Mario nodded again at her comment. Goombella noticed that some old paper was sticking out from his left pocket.

"Whoa whoa WHOA, bucko! Whatcha got there?" asked Goombella.

Mario pulled the paper out from his pocket. It was folded up. Mario unfolded the paper and it revealed a map.

"Omigosh! Is... Isn't that a treasure map?! You HAVE to tell me where you got that!"

Mario claimed that he got it from someone named Princess Peach.

"...Princess Peach? What?"

"Great hoogly-boogly! If it isn't Master Mario!" Exclaimed a nearby voice.

"Bit of a coincidence, bumping into one another in this sort of place, hm? Ho ho! So tell me, Master Mario, what in the world brings you to this wretched little burg?"

"Um... Excuse me, sir. I don't mean to be rude, but, who are you?" I asked.

"Why, my name is Toadsworth, my good man! I am a loyal old toad to the one and only Princess Peach! What what! But, I digress. Master Mario, please continue."

Mario explained to Toadsworth about why he was here.

"Hmm? Ah! Indeed?! Princess Peach sent you a letter and a treasure map? And she told you she's meet you here in Rogueport?! Intriguing..."

Mario asked Toadsworth curiously about where she was.

"You're asking me where Princess Peach is? Erm... I was about to ask you that. We stopped in this to acquire a spot of fuel for our ship, don't you know... I only took my eye off her for a moment, but as soon as I did, she vanished."

Mario gasped. He sounded pretty shocked about this piece of information.

"You know how headstrong she is, Mario... I assumed she'd be back momentarily... But at this point, I fear we must embrace the possibility that she may never return. I've been at a loss of what to do. I've been fraught with worry, I tell you!"

Mario assured Toadsworth that he would find the princess.

"But I'm feeling better with you here, Master Mario. Surely we'll find her! Surely! But I know my place, Master Mario... and this is not it. I leave this task to you. I believe I'll recline in the inn right over there and enjoy a spot of tea, perhaps. In fact, I highly recommend it, particularly if find you find your energy running low. Just drop on INN! Ho ho! ...Yes, anyway, a little rest there will refill all of your lost strength. I must say though, the rest of this town is a bit...rough. Yes, rough, indeed..."

After that speech, Toadsworth walked off to the inn. Goombella turned back to Mario.

"Um... Princess Peach? Did he mean, like, Peach, the Mushroom Kingdom princess?! The princess who always gets nabbed by Bowser, the Koopa king? The one you rescue? Wait a sec'! This is crazy! Princess PEACH sent you that treasure map?"

Mario nodded yes.

"Whoa. This is really intense. Well, where could she have gone, then, do you think? You think maybe she got sick of waiting and went to find the treasure on her own?"

Mario held his chin and thought for a moment.

"Hmm... It definitely sounds like a possibility. But, her highness wouldn't be crazy enough to go alone. Would she?" I asked.

"I guess so... Oooh! Oooh! I know, guys! Come with me! One of my professors is here researching that treasure. We'll show him your map! If we start looking for the treasure, then maybe we'll catch up to Princess Peach!" Exclaimed Goombella.

Mario nodded in agreement to this idea. I was still a bit curious about this whole place, though. This place was never on any map of Earth. Could it be that I'm really not in the same world anymore? And what was that light that saved me? This is confusing...

"Hello! Earth to Rick! Are you still alive?" Said a ringing voice.

I snapped out of my thoughts to notice that Goombella was really close to my face.

"Oh! Sorry. I was thinking about something important."

"Well, are you coming with us?" Asked Goombella.

"Yeah, I'll roll with you guys. It's not like I have anyone else to turn to..."

"Great! We're all good, then! Let's go, boys!"

(Goombella and Mario have joined your party!)

"First off, we gotta go find my professor. Thing is, since I just got here myself...I, um, don't actually know where he lives." Said Goombella.

"It shouldn't be too tough. Rogueport doesn't seem that big, so we should be able to find him easily. We should probably start with the west side of town." I suggested.

"Ok, then let's get looking!" Said Goombella.

We soon started walking down the path to west side when we were suddenly stopped by an old lady.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" She yelled.

"Whoa! Calm down, Ma'm! We didn't do anything! Honest!" I replied.

"No! I said stop because some jerk knocked out my contact lens! So whatever you do, DON'T MOVE AN INCH!" I didn't ignore her request and I held still but...

"Shit. I think I'm about to sneeze! Ah... Ah..." Mario put his finger under my nose to stop me just in time.

"Thanks, Mario. That was a nice save."

He removed his finger and for some reason, I still sneezed! I ended up moving back my right leg and I heard a little cracking sound where I put my foot.

"Oh, hell..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IDIOT! You stepped on it! My poor contact lens! I told you NOT TO MOVE! Don't your stupid ears work? What were you thinking?!" Yelled the old lady.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident! I swear!"

"This is your fault! Now I have to buy a new contact lens! But YOU'RE gonna pay for it! Compensate me, Mr. Clumsy!"

"But... I..."

Before I can even spit out a sentence, she rushes over and blocks the entrance to the west side.

"Fine! If that's your plan, then here's MINE, you jerk! I'm gonna block the gate to the west side until you bring me a new contact lens!"

"But we need to get through!" I snapped.

"No! Look, I'm not letting you into the west part of town until you buy me a new lens! Sorry, but end of story. I can't cook anything without my contact lenses in! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! My rage is so hot right now, I could cook YOU with it!" She yelled.

"Ok! Ok! God almighty! We'll get you your new lens! Just chill, ok!? Jesus!" I yelled.

As we walked away, I started talking with the others.

"Ok, that old bag isn't gonna let us get through, so let go order those lenses." I said to Mario and Goombella.

Both nodded in agreement and we went into the items shop. After a few minutes of buying some items, I went up to one of the clerks and checked if they had any contact lenses that we could buy.

"Eh? What's that? You want a contact lens, you say?" Asked the clerk.

"It's a long story..." I said as I scratched my head.

"Hmm. Wait just a moment." Said the clerk.

The clerk we were talking to came back to us after a few minutes and said that they were out of stock and that they needed to re-stock. After that we took our leave and went to the east side. When least expected it, some blue jackass knocks me and Mario out of the way!

"Hey! What's your beef, pal? YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Goombella yells to the guy.

She turns to Mario and gasped.

"Mario! You gotta wake up! That guy just stole half of your coins!"

Mario looks into his wallet and sees that half of his money is gone.

"That is SO lame! Ugh! I HATE this town!"

She soon turned to me and gasped again.

"He even stole your bag, Rick!"

I noticed that my bag really was gone! That rat bastard!

**"YOU SON OF A BITCH! DON'T FUCKIN' RUN AWAY FROM ME! I'LL END YOU!** I roared.

I rushed back into the square with my friends and went down the alley he turned into. I soon find his house behind the inn. I rush in with a punch and break down the door. I catch the bandit ready to open my bag.

"Uh... Fancy meeting you here! You're pretty dang persistent, buddy! What a pain!" Said the bandit.

"Persistent wins. So, what do have to say for yourself, huh? Huh!? **HOW LONG DID YOU THINK YOUR LITTLE THIEVING SPREE WAS GOONA LAST, YOU LITTLE BITCH!?"** I screamed.

"OK, OK! I'll give you back your stuff, Ok!? Just please don't hurt me!" Cried the bandit.

Without hesitation, the thief gives us back all of Mario's coins and my duffel bag.

"Make sure to remember what just happened here, asshole. If I catch you pulling this shit again, you'll find yourself on the end of a fucking knife. GET IT?" I warned.

"Got it..." He whimpered.

We resumed our original planned course and checked to east side. We soon walked into a house that had lots of books inside. There was also a table with an old man in a lab coat with glasses reading and old book.

"Oh, hi! There you are! Professor Frankly!" said Goombella.

"Whazzuhuh? Who's there? Who wants me? Ah. Yes. You. Now, you, uh... I've seen your before... Yes, that face... Wait for it... Just a moment... Don't tell me, now! Silence! I'll get it right! Umm... It's not Goombriel... Errr... It's not Elizagoom... Hrrrmmmm... Errrrmmm... A-HAAA! I've got it! You're Goombella, aren't you? You were in my archaeology class last year, am I right?" Asked the professor.

"Wow, yes, sir! That's me! I'm Goombella, a junior at U Goom! Goooo GOOMBAS!" Said Goombella.

"Of course I remember you. Not to toot my horn, but i'mm pretty good remembering. You, though... You stick out in my mind because you were such and exceptional student. And those two behind you are... WHO?!"

Mario literally face planted himself into the floor like it was something straight out of an anime show. I gave off a light chuckle just from watching that.

"Mario! Professor, he's Mario! You know...the famous one! And this is our new friend, Rick!" said Goombella.

"Hello, professor. It's nice to meet you." I greeted.

"Oh! My apologies. I'm such a book worm, I haven't a clue about what's "hip" right now. In any case, what sort errand brings you three all the way to a place like this?" Asked Frankly.

"We were hoping you'd tell us about the legendary treasure said to be below Rogueport! I thought that if anyone knew anything about it, you would, Professor Frankly..." Explained Goombella.

"Of course I know about it. The reason I came here was to study that very subject. But why do you tykes want to learn about the legendary treasure? You know that most say it's little more than a fairy tale, don't you? asked Frankly.

As the both of them went on, I looked around the shelves and rows of books and scrolls were everywhere. I was really bored until Goombella got my attention again.

"Hey, Rick! are you all set? We're about to go find the Thousand Year Door!" Said Goombella.

"Yeah, alright. Let's go!" I exclaimed.

As we left the house, the professor opened up the fence across from his house. Behind the fence was some kind of green pipe. As we went inside and reached the bottom in a matter of moments, I took a wide look at the gigantic, expansive underground caverns.

"Wow... This is amazing. Where I'm from, I couldn't even leave the facility. Now I'm in some other world getting to travel to all sorts of places! Ha ha! I said out in enjoyment.

"Wait, facility? What are you talking about?" Asked Goombella.

"Oh, I didn't tell you guys yet, did I? Yeah, I guess i've got some explaining to do...

**End of Chapter 1...**

**Hope you enjoyed first chapter! Later!**

**(****BTW, for those of you who are a bit confused about the characters' appearances, they've become more like anthros. Just in case you got mixed up.)**


	2. Chapter 2:A New Discovery

**Chapter 2:A New Discovery**

**(All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners. I own nothing from Nintendo.)**

**Underground Rogueport, Unknown day, Rough guess on time 6:05 P.M.**

After spending nearly 6 whole minutes explaining everything from my tragic childhood to my appearance here, everyone looked baffled about my story. Goombella felt especially sympathetic to my past.

"Aww... That's, like, really rough. Sorry about your parents. It must've been really difficult for you. Poor thing..." Said Goombella sympathizing with me.

"Goombella, please. You don't have to be sorry for me."

"Yes I do! You didn't deserve the bad hands you got dealt with as a kid!" Snapped Goombella.

"Think about it like this Goombella. If I hadn't dealt with the shit that happened to my life, I wouldn't have ever met you guys." I replied.

"I guess that's true..." Said Goombella.

"Let's just keep moving, ok?" I said.

As we walked through the underground ruins, someone started to call out to our group of four.

"Hey! Hey, man! What's up? Who's the hottie you got there with you?" Said the unknown voice.

We looked a bit farther ahead to see who it was. It was three boys in front of us. The three of them had fangs like Goombella, but they looked like total gangsters instead. They all had brown, darker skin, and they looked a bit diverse by their appearances. One of them was a typical Goomba, another had a pair of wings on his back making him hover, and the third one had a spiky helmet on his head.

"Wassup, baby? Why don't you hand with us for a while? We play real nice!" Said the flying one.

"Man, what's a FINE-lookin' Goomba doin' with a bunch of losers like them?!" Said the spiky one.

"Oh, it is, like, SO sweet that you boys think I'm cute! Seriously! Yeah, guys like you make me feel like TOTALLY BARFING! Now get out of our way!" Snapped Goombella.

"Ouch! That was cold!" Said the normal one.

"What you're too good for us? Come off it, sister!" Said the flying one.

"You know what REALLY hurts? You twats are gonna find out pretty damn quickly if you don't listen to the lady!" I yelled.

"Nobody zings us us like that! Nobody! Let's get 'em!"

"Bring it on, assholes!"

The flying Goomba lunges at me at a quick speed, but I react just in time and grab his neck with my left arm. I slam the guy into a wall and start punching him while the spiky Goomba charges at me from behind. I turn around and use the Paragoomba that I was punching as a shield. The spiky Goomba ended up jabbing his buddy in the back.

"YAAAAH! Watch where you're going, ya idiot!"

"Sorry, dude!"

"Nice job, dumbass." I said to the Spiny Goomba.

As they were arguing, I jumped into the air, did a front flip, and brought down my right leg, delivering an Ax kick to the normal Goomba. The guy was holding his head, cringing from the pain. As the other two stopped arguing and the normal one stopped holding his head, they all looked at me with pure anger. The three of them charged into me without hesitation.

"Watch out!" Yelled Goombella.

"Come and get it, you bastards..." I thought with a grin on my face.

As they were about to hit me at the last second, I extended my arms and got ready to bring them together.

**"SONIC CLAP! KRA-KA-KOW!"**

My voice echoed and I brought my hands together, unleashing a powerful sonic boom around the area. My friends had their ears held at the time(thank god). The other guys, their ears were still ringing. I think they learned their lesson.

"Oweeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The three said in pain.

"I hope you little bitches have learned your lessons. Now, get outta my sight!" I snapped.

They immediately ran away after seeing my frightening display of strength.

"Ha! Later on, losers! That was AWESOME!" Said Goombella.

"Is everyone ready? There are plenty more where they came from, and they'll all have it in for us." Said Frankly.

"Ah, don't worry so much, professor! If more of those idiots show up, I can just kick the shit out of them like before! Just leave it to me!" I said confidently.

As we ventured down further, we ran into more and more enemies. Mario and Goombella managed to handle themselves pretty well without my help. After traversing the underground for a bit, we finally came across a room with two giant doors.

"Oh! Mario! Goombella! Rick! Look...at...THAT!" Exclaimed the professor.

"I'm guessing that this is the door that we're looking for?" I asked.

"Yes! Yes it is! The Thousand Year Door spoken of in legends! I can't believe it's real! So the legends are all true! There it is, big as life! Come! Let's move closer!"

I managed to get a closer look at the door and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was amazing. The door's markings looked like they truly were at least a whole millennium old.

"Hey, what's the deal with this weird pedestal, huh? What could it be, you think?" Asked Goombella.

I was going to take a good look at the pedestal when Mario suddenly jumped onto it. Soon, the entire area around him created a circle of markings. I was very confused at that point.

"Professor! What's going on?" Asked Goombella.

Soon, the map started to glow brightly and a castle appeared on the map. A massive blast of kinetic energy emitted from the map and shook the whole room. I suddenly felt some sort of strange, new power inside of my body. I felt as if my being was connected to the map.

"Holy shit...did anyone else feel that?" I asked.

"I didn't feel anything." Said Frankly.

"Me either. Hey, wait! Guys! The map! And what was with all of those crazy lights?" Asked Goombella.

"Hrmmm... It appears that information related to the locations of the Crystal Stars appeared... And that shining light... It looked as if a mysterious power was given to Mario and Rick... Well... One way or another... We should return to my place and study the map closely." Said Frankly.

As we all nodded in agreement, Mario, Frankly, and Goombella left the large room. But, I decided to take a closer look at the door. As I went to examine the markings, I put my hand on the door. I suddenly felt an intense pain in my chest and head. As well as a major chill going up my spine. It felt like a dark force was behind the door. As if, something was if pain...

"Rick? Are you alright?" Asked Goombella.

Goombella's sudden appearance nearly made me punch her. When I realized it was her, I managed to stop myself from hurting her. My fist was mere inches away from her face.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, Goombella!" I said in a very apologetic tone.

"It's alright, Rick. You didn't hit me. Why did you try to attack me, though?" She asked.

"You startled me and I panicked, ok? It's just... I put one of my hands on the door and I noticed a serious pain shoot right through my body. It's almost like... something powerful is behind that door." I said in an upset tone.

"Come on. Let's go catch up with the others, k?" Asked Goombella.

"Yeah... Ok." I replied.

Goombella held my arm and nuzzled her head into my chest. I really enjoyed her trying to comfort me, but I get the feeling that it's going to take a lot more than that to make me feel a bit less uneasy. We all finally made it back to the surface and went inside the professor's house.

"Hrmmm... Aha! I see!" Said the Professor.

"You understand it, Professor?" Asked Goombella.

"My dear, of course I do! Firstly, about that light we saw shining on Mario and Rick... It seems that they have both acquired something known as a special move." Said Frankly.

"A special move?" Goombella asked curiously.

"Yes, it... Well... Stuff like this is better explained by example rather than words. Care to try it out?" Asked Frankly.

"Nah. I think we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. What better test than the real thing, right?" I replied.

"Very well, then. Now let's have a look at that Magical Map and see what we can learn about the... WOW! ASTOUNDING! This map has radar-like functions! It now shows the location of a Crystal Star!"

"Wha? Move over, old man! Lemme see that!" I exclaimed as I rushed over.

He was right. The symbol of a Crystal Star was on the map. It was shown to inside some kind of castle.

"It looks like the first Crystal Star is to be found in a place called the Petal Meadows." Said Frankly.

"Petal Meadows?" I asked.

"Yes. The area is a vast meadow that lies far to the east of Rogueport. To tell you the truth... I've always thought that place was a tad suspicious. The name Petal Meadows did come up from time to time in my research." Frankly explained to us.

"Ok, fine. So we'll go there. Does anybody know how to get there or what?" Asked Goombella.

"Don't look at me. I'm clueless." I said.

"I'm fairly certain that somewhere beneath the city is a pipe to Petal Meadows. If you could just find that, you'd get there instantly. Pipe travel's very efficient! By the way, Mario... I'm curious. Where did you get that map, anyway?" Asked Frankly.

Mario explained how he acquired to map.

"From Princess Peach? Really? Her Highness sent this to you, Mario?

Mario nodded in confirmation.

"So it IS her! Your princess came to see me the other day. She wanted to learn about the treasure... I told her about the Crystal Stars and my suspicions about Petal Meadows... It doesn't seem likely, but perhaps she tried to go to Petal Meadows on her own...

"Y'know, Professor, there was another suspicious group asking about the same thing." Said Goombella.

"She's talking about some idiots that I clobbered. It was earlier today." I said.

"Hrmm... But I can't imagine Princess Peach getting involved with THEM... All right! It's settled! Off to Petal Meadows you three go! If Princess Peach indeed went there, your first priority must be to catch up to her. Collecting the Crystal Stars is a means to an end...and that end is Princess Peach!" Said Frankly.

"Aren't you coming with us, Professor?" I asked.

"No, I'll stay in town and ask around Princess Peach and that suspicious gang. Besides, I doubt a shriveled old Goomba like me could handle the trials of the road. Of course, if anything happens and you need some advice, come see me, OK?"

"You got it, Professor! Well, we're off!" Said Goombella

"Could we at least go tommorow? It's, like, 9:27 P.M. and we've been running around all day!" I complained.

"All right, then. I guess we have gone through a lot today. We'll rest up for the night and set off tomorrow." Said Goombella.

"Alright. Come on, you two. I'll get us a room at the inn." I said.

As we left Frankly's house, we suddenly heard him yelling out.

"Wait just a moment!" Yelled Frankly.

He stepped outside and gave us a couple of badges to me and Mario. They both said "Power Smash" on them.

"Mario, Rick, it's scary out there. Take these with you. These badges will help you greatly."

After he went inside, we wanted to look further past the east area, but some bird guy with a spear wasn't letting us through.

"Excuse me, we need to pass." I said to him.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hold up, now! If you want to pass through here, you gotta pay 10 coins." He replied.

"What? Why?"

"Look, it's simple. Either you pay, or you away." He said to me.

"But I need to get through." I said trying to pass.

He points his spear at my face.

"Hey, fuck off needle dick. That's your first, last, and only warning." He said to me.

"The fuck you say?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"I said, fuck o-"

**(WHACK!)**

"AAAAAAGH! My nether regions! Owwww..."

"I hope that kick in the balls sent a message. Don't fuck with me." I said to him.

He fell on to the floor and kept on cringing in pain from my hit. As we looked around, there was't much around to see, so we decided to continue to the town square and head for the inn. As we got upstairs, we talked to the lady that ran the inn. We had just enough money for her to give us a room for the night. She prepared three beds for us. I chose the one in the corner near the window, Goombella chose the middle one and Mario chose the last one on the opposite side of the room. As we prepared for bed, Mario managed to get a glass of water before we both went to sleep. Goombella was already fast asleep and we didn't want to disturb her. Got our sleeping clothes on, turned out the light, and went to bed.

"Good. Mario drank the water. Once he's fast asleep with that little drug I gave him, he won't be stopping me and Rick from getting "closer" to each other! Hm hmm!" Goombella thought.

Rogueport, Inn, 11:35 P.M.

The night was a bit more peaceful than in the daytime. Hell, almost the whole town must've been asleep at the time. I was sleeping in my bed when I woke up and noticed that there was something moving around underneath my blanket.

"Hnngh...hmm? Huh?"

(Lifts up blanket.)

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Goombella was trying to get into my pants!

"Goombella! What are you-mmpph!"

"Shhh..." Said Goombella covering my mouth.

She was literally on top of me, naked and could see her entire body. Her womanhood was dripping with anticipation right over my crotch and she looked at me with hungry, lust-filled eyes. I was blushing madly at her.

"I told you that I going to repay you for saving me today, didn't I?" She said to me in a seductive tone.

"Umm.. What are you going to do?" I asked nervously.

"Give you my virginity, of course. It's my first time, and I'd gladly give it to someone that would save me like that." Said Goombella.

I looked away in embarrassment as my member started to bulge in my sleeping short pants.

"This is your first time too, isn't it?" She asked.

"...Yeah...But it's not like I saw any girls in the facility, anyway. And even if I did, I always enjoyed the thrill of battle more. It's true that I've never been intimate with anyone but, still..." I replied.

"So, you think that fighting better than sex, huh?" Asked Goombella.

"Well, it's the rush and excitement of it that I always enjoy." I said.

"Well then, tell me if this is better..."

Before I could react, Goombella smashed her lips against mine and kissed me deeply. Both of our tongues battled for dominance, but hers won out and she took her time searching my mouth. I was feeling the pleasure of the kiss clouding up my thoughts as she explored. My hands felt like they were moving by themselves and I grabbed on to her breasts.

"Aah!"

Her light yelp ended up arousing me even further and I started fondling and massaging her breasts. I never felt something like this before. Her moans seemed to get cuter each second as I grabbed her more and more. I soon started biting and sucking on her pink nipples. They started to get harder as I caressed them.

"Alright. Let's move on, shall we?" Said Goombella catching her breath.

She turned around and put her womanhood directly in front of my face. She started removing my pants and my underwear and she was surprised to see my 8-inch member fully erect in her face.

"Wow... You're a lot bigger than I thought!" Said Goombella.

She soon started stroking off my member and I started to feel even more pleasure than before.

"Whoa... ggh!"

Goombella surprised me a minute later as she took my whole thing in her mouth. The feeling of her mouth on it was awesome.

"Hey... Come on... Hurry up..."

"Huh? Oh, right..."

I started prodding her moist hole with my fingers, trying to feel around inside of her. She looked wetter from before. Probably from when she saw my manhood in front of her.

"Come on... Do it with your mouth..." She pleaded.

"Ok, ok..."

As she said that I began licking her insides. The juices made her have a certain kind of taste. It was really nice! I lapped up more of it like a man that didn't have water for many days and nights from walking in a desert while Goombella was doing the same as she was licking and sucking my member. A few minutes passed and soon we both like something was building up...

"Ohhhhh... Rick, I think... I'm gonna... cum soon!"

"Oh, man... Same here..."

Before she could finish, she squirted a whole cup's worth of her juices into my face. I ended up doing the same to her with my member as I rammed it deep into her throat release a white, sticky, fluid into her mouth. She gagged for a bit and started coughing a bit, but she closed her mouth for a second and savored it.

"Sorry about that..." I said to her.

"Don't be... Mmmmm... You really taste good, Rick! And now for the main event..."

She turned herself around and aligned herself on top of me with my member still erect from earlier right underneath her.

"Are you ready?" She said seductively.

"Yeah..." I replied.

Without hesitation, Goombella dropped herself onto my member and suddenly started wincing in pain.

"Are you all right, Goombella? We can stop if you want..."

"N..no... I... Want... This..." She said while shaking.

After a full minute, she started moving her ass up and down on top of me. I could easily feel all of the pleasure building up inside of me again. Her hot, tight and wet insides me fall into a pool of ecstasy. I grabbed on to her breasts and nipples and started to fondle them again adding to the pleasure.

"Ahnn! Yes, Rick! Keep going! Keep going!" Pleaded Goombella.

As she wanted, I started sucking on her nipples and pinching them making her moan even more and have a pure pleasure-filled smile on her face. After 10 minutes of making each other's minds clouded, we started to reach our peak...

"Goombella... I'm... going to cum again!"

"I'm going to cum, too! I think I might scream! Kiss me!"

She quickly pressed her lips against mine and we both climaxed at the same time. The feeling of finishing inside her like that was intense. I pulled out of her with a loud popping sound and she fell to my bed's left side, staring me in the face.

"Thank you, my hero..." She said as she kissed me on the cheek and went back to her bed. I cleaned up the stains so that no one would notice and fell to sleep from exhaustion from our little "activity" together.

**End of Chapter 2...**

**(Please give me some feedback! I'd like to know how I did with the lemon. It's my first one, so you can be honest with me.)**


	3. Chapter 3:Off to Petal Meadows!

**Chapter 3:Off to Petal Meadows!**

**(All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners. I own nothing from Nintendo.)**

**Rogueport, Wednesday, 11:15 A.M.**

I awake with a bit of tiredness in my eyes from last night and get up to do my morning stretches. I check my duffel bag to make sure that I still have all my swag. I even make sure that all of my weapons are still loaded. As I finish up, I check the time on my iPad, I get on my usual dark garments and head downstairs. The typical people in the tavern were still drinking away and drowning themselves with wine.

"Hey! Over here, Rick!" Yelled Goombella.

I look further to my left to see Goombella and Mario eating some pancakes on the far end of the tavern. A young man with yellow skin, a pointy nose, purple hair, and red conquistador garments with a red skull jewel was singing some song right next to their table. I went over and sat down with the two and ordered some hash browns and a glass of water. My tired eyes still made me look like I was ready to fall asleep again.

"Aww... Still tired?" Asked Goombella.

"Yeah..." I said groggily.

"Here. Drink this."

Goombella slid a drink on the table over to me and I drank the whole glass in a few seconds without hesitation. Suddenly, a burst of energy sent a shock through my entire body and my eyes felt like they just shot open.

"Well? Whatcha' think?"

"Wow! This taste's great! What is it?" I asked curiously.

"It's a Tasty Tonic. I bought two of them at the item shop next door the day before you two got here. I may not know much about cooking, but I learned a little trick of mixing mushrooms in drinks." Goombella replied to me.

"Well, it's damn good. I'll say that much."

We continued our conversation with my many questions about this world while eating our breakfast and we finished up 12 minutes later. We went upstairs and I soon made the suggestion that we should stop by the badge shop to get more badges for good measure. We walked in and we were both soon greeted by two mouse people. One of them was wearing a business tie, white pants and shirt, and he had light yellow fur. He also had a black mask over his eyes, blue shoes on his feet, and a red cap on his head. His tail was curved into a swirl. The other one was female and she had white fur on her. She had D-Cup breasts and she looked to be in her mid 30s. She had voluptuous thighs and a slender figure. Her mask was black as well and she was wearing a skirt, a black work dress, red heels, and her tail was shaped into a heart. Both of their ears were round like perfect circles.

"Welcome to the Lovely Howz of Badges! How can we help you?" The yellow one asked.

"We were just wondering if you happened to have any attack badges for weapons or close range." I told them.

"Oh! We have just the thing!" Replied the white one.

She went behind the counter and reached inside a drawer. She pulled out two badges labeled "Power Jump" and "Fire Drive". The lady mouse walked back over and gave us the badges.

"Here you go! Consider these "free of charge"!" Said the lady.

"Wait, they're free? Is there some kind of catch, here?" I asked.

"Maaaaybe... Hehe!" The lady mouse said playfully.

"Hmmm..."

The lady worker got close to me, held my right arm, and pressed her breasts against my side.

"Don't worry, my sweet cheese-hunk! It's just like I said, free of charge." She said assuringly to me in a sort of seductive tone. She smelled sweet, like... candy.

When she called me a "cheese-hunk", that actually made me blush so hard at her comment, that my face looked like it was as red as a tomato. I tried to maintain a straight face and turn away so that no one would notice my embarrassment.

"Well, thanks for the badges, ma'am. We'll just be going, now." I said as she released my arm while my head was still turned away from her.

"Hmm hmm! Come back anytime, sweetie!" She said as we walked out the door.

As we jumped off of the ledge connecting the badge shop to the inn, Goombella was starting to chuckle a little bit. I started to get curious.

"What are you so giggly about, Goombella?" I asked her.

"Your face! It was priceless back there! Hahaha!" She said laughing out loud in front of me.

"Oh... You saw that?" I said embarrassed.

"Yeah! You looked pretty flustered around the manager! Ha!"

"It wasn't that funny!" I snorted angrily.

She was still laughing about it even when I started walking ahead of the group. As we went into the same pipe from yesterday, I started fighting some enemies that were already trying to get in our way. I wasn't in much of a mood to mess with my opponents at the time, so I just struck them all in the back of their heads and K. them. Goombella remembered how strong I was in that instant and thought that it might not have been a good idea to laugh at me like that.

"Umm... Rick?" Said Goombella meekly.

"What?" I said in a cold tone.

Mario started walking ahead of us to give us some time to talk. Goombella walked up to my right side shortly after his leave.

"Errm... Listen, I'm sorry that I laughed at you like that. It was kind of mean for me to do that. I should've thought it through a bit more and..."

"You can stop right there. I forgive you. Just don't go pulling that shit too much, k?" I replied.

"Right. Ok. Didn't mean to piss you off. But, you seemed a bit more touchy about me poking fun at you instead of you doing the poking. Why is that?" She asked me.

"Well, it's like I said during my explanation, I never really had any friends or people to joke around with. I guess couldn't deal with it because I never experienced it with others." I replied.

"I hope that we can forget about it and just move along."

"That's ok. But, I still have to get back at you for that..." I said with a mischievous smirk on my face.

As I said that, I started slipping my fingers into her pants. I did mean what I said about getting revenge, of course.

"Ah! Rick, no! Mario's right there! He'll catch us like thi-oh..."

"You brought this on yourself, little lady. Time to face the music. I wouldn't worry about Mario much either. He's gone pretty far ahead and he looks like he's got his hands full with some Goombas." I replied.

As I continued to make my hand go further down, Goombella started making cute little moaning sounds from my toying with her. I grabbed her breasts to stimulate her even more, making her forcefully moan a bit louder. It was a good thing Mario wasn't in hearing range of this. We even went behind one of the old walls for cover. I decided to stop just to tease her a little. She started to look a bit broken from my act. I tasted some of her juices that were still on my hand and it was great.

"Heh. Still feel like laughing, Goombella?" I said with an evil grin on my face.

"Please...Let...me..." She muttered.

"Please let you what?"

"Please let me stroke it..." She said to me with a pleading look on her face.

"Certainly." I said in a nonchalant tone.

I pulled down my pants to reveal to her member right in front of her face. She began sniffing it and started stroking. Her gloves felt really plush when she was doing so. I was enjoying it for a minute, but I soon wanted more...

"Suck on it."

"Ok..."

Without question, she put her mouth onto my member and bobbed her head back and forth, licking and tasting it. The smile on her face while she wanted this actually made me laugh a bit. After a few minutes, I was finally ready to let loose.

"Hey, I'm... about ready... Goombella..."

"Go ahead. Let it all out."

She stopped deep throating my member and stroked it for the last few seconds. And with that, I unloaded and relieved myself in her face. She was covered in the stuff and she smiled happily as she licked it all up. We cleaned ourselves up with some tissues I swipes from the inn and finally caught up to Mario, who had been waiting for us by a giant water canal.

"Hey, Mario! Sorry if we took too long. We were "talking" for quite a while." I said to him.

As me and Goombella caught our breaths, we noticed that there was something really slimy and wet coming from the canal.

"What the eff is that thing?" I curiously wondered out loud.

My curiosity soon gets the better of me when I take a knife from my bag and stab it a little bit. The weird object reacted and retracted itself from us.

"Bloop! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! (Ouch! That HURT!)"

"The hell?"

The weird object turned out to be a tentacle and it soon pulled itself into the water.

"If the tentacle was that big, then... That means... Oh fuck." I said while face palming myself in stupidity.

Something bubbled from underneath the water's surface and it jumped out at us. It revealed itself to be a Giant Blooper! It looked pretty angry with us. Well, me in particular, since I was the one who stabbed it.

"Bloobloobloobloop! (Who just up and stabs someone's tootsies like that?) Blooblooop! BLOOP! (Somebody with some serious moxie, that's who!)"

!

"Bloobloop! Bloobloobloop! (Would you look at that! It's some punk with a knife!) Bloopity bloop! Blooooo! (You're in a WORLD of hurt, mister!)

It soon launched its tentacles right at me, but I didn't even need to move at the time. I easily predicted its attack movements and intercepted with my knife. It was like the thing was trying to hit a porcupine.

BLOOOOOOOOP! Bloop! Bloop! (AAAAAAAH! You little shit!) Bloobloobloop! Bloop! (I'm gonna smash you flat, you little bug!)

I soon dropped my knife and equipped my Fire Drive badge. Since I didn't have time to make a hammer, I simply closed my eyes and started rubbing my hand together at an incredible pace. The squid soon took that opportunity to strike at me with my guard down.

"Rick! Do something! It's tentacles are heading right for you! Use your head!" Goombella yelled.

I still stood there just rubbing my hands. Once I had built up enough friction heat in my palms at the last second, I opened my eyes to see two tentacles flying right at me. I lunged forward and dodged them while grabbing on to them. My hands burned into the Blooper's arms. It howled in pain as I held on to it with my fiery, iron grip. I pulled it directly into my path and jumped right into its flight path, delivering a massive headbutt knocking it back underwater.

"Anybody up for some hot SUSHI!?" I said as I slammed my hands on to the water's surface.

The burning friction from my hands was so hot that I managed to boil all of the water in the canal. Mario and Goombella were amazed at my newest display of raw power.

**"BLOOOOOOOOOOP! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"**

The Blooper launched itself right through the ceiling from freaking out from my attack. Suddenly, platforms started to appear on the water right in front of us.

"Geez Rick, I knew you were strong but... Wow..." Said Goombella still astonished.

"Yeah well, I used to bust up tanks and mechs for a living. It's really no surprise to me. Now, let's get going!" I said as I hopped on to the platforms.

We had soon reached the pipe after hopping the platforms and got ready.

"You guys all set for this?" I asked.

Mario nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah!" Exclaimed Goombella.

"Then let's lock and load." I said in a badass tone.

As we all jumped into the pipe, I still kept thinking about what happened with the Thousand Year Door. There's something behind that door that keeps bugging me to no end! I have to find out what it is! I WILL FIND OUT!

As was came out of the pipe, the bright light of the sun shined intensely in our faces and we marveled at the beauty of the grassy landscape. The view was just perfect.

"Well, here we are! The Petal Meadows, where folks say a Crystal Star hides. Woo hoo! Here we go, boys! The start of our adventure! This is completely awesome!" Exclaimed Goombella.

"Man! This new life of mine is gonna be SO FUCKING BEAST!" I yelled.

**(ROOOOOOAAAARRRR!)**

"WHAT... THE...FLYING... FUCK!?" I gasped.

"Whoa! What was that? Ooh! Is that a... Wow! Guys! Look!" Said a shocked Goombella.

We turned our backs around to see a giant, red dragon flying into a nearby castle. It was freaking HUGE!

"Totally incredible... I've never seen anything that humongous before. It looked kinda scary, too. Weird... Professor Frankly said this place was peaceful. Wow! Crazy! We just started and already there's intrigue! C'mon, boys! Let's go!" Said Goombella.

_"Jesus... Who'd have thought that dragons could live in this world? Not me! I always got tutored in the facility and got books about mythical creatures that didn't even exist in my world. Never thought I'd actually see one in person. Maybe it's power could be useful to me if we beat it..."_ I thought.

I decided to listen to some music while we walked, so I took out my iPod and my wireless headphones from my bag and put on some tunes to listen to. I found "Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. I was about to listen when Goombella stopped me.

"Hey Rick, what're those?

"Oh, these things? They're my headphones. I was about to listen to some songs. Wanna listen?"

"Sure!"

I took out one of my extra sets and gave her one. I turned it on and we instantly let ourselves get lost in the music...

_[Intro:]_

_Ay, ay, ay_

_Good to see you, come on in, let's go_

_Yeah, let's go_

_Alright, alright_

_OK, uh, alright, OK_

_Alright, OK_

_Return of the Mack, get up!_

_What it is, what it does, what it is, what it isn't._

_Looking for a better way to get up out of bed_

_Instead of getting on the Internet and checking a new hit_

_Get up! Fresh out, pimp strut walking, little bit of humble, little bit of cautious_

_Somewhere between like Rocky and Cosby. Sweater gang, nope, nope y'all can't copy_

_Yup. Bad, moon walking, this here is our party, my posse's been on Broadway,_

_And we did it our way._

_Grown music, I shed my skin and put my bones into everything I record to it_

_And yet I'm on._

_Let that stage light go and shine on down,_

_Got that Bob Barker suit game and plinko in my style._

_Money, stay on my craft and stick around for those pounds,_

_But I do that to pass the torch and put on for my town_

_Trust me. On my I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T shit hustler,_

_Chasing dreams since I was fourteen with the four track bussing_

_Halfway cross that city with the backpack, fat cat, crushing_

_Labels out here,_

_Now they can't tell me nothing_

_We give that to the people,_

_Spread it across the country_

_Labels out here,_

_Now they can't tell me nothing_

_We give it to the people,_

_Spread it across the country_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Now, can I kick it? Thank you. Yeah I'm so damn grateful._

_I grew up, really wanted gold fronts_

_But that's what you get when Wu Tang raised you_

_Y'all can't stop me, go hard like I got an 808 in my heart beat_

_And I'm eating at the beat like you gave a little speed to a great white shark on shark week_

_Raw. Tell me go up. Gone!_

_Deuces goodbye. I got a world to see, and my girl she wanna see Rome,_

_Caesar make you a believer. Now I never ever did it for a throne._

_That validation comes from giving it back to the people. Now sing this song and it goes like_

_Raise those hands, this is our party_

_We came here to live life like nobody was watching_

_I got my city right behind me_

_If I fall, they got me. Learn from that failure gain humility and then we keep marching ourselves_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us_

_And so we put our hands up_

_And so we put our hands up_

_Wa oh oh oh wa oh oh oh wa oh oh_

_Let's go!_

_Na na na na na na na na (aha)_

_Hey_

_And all my people say_

_Na na na na na na na na (that's right, feels good)_

_Hey_

_And all my people say_

_Na na na na na na na na (it's alright)_

_(oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh)_

_And all my people say_

_Na na na na na na na na_

_Ma-ckle-more_

_[Album version ending:]_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Can we go back, this is the moment_

_Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'til it's over_

_So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us_

_Like the ceiling can't hold us._

_(Song Ends)_

"That song was really nice, Rick! Thanks for sharing!" Goombella said happily.

"No problem."

After walking for about 15 minutes, we came across a town with plenty of Koopas. Like Goombella, all of the inhabitants actually looked more anthropomorphic. Definitely a lot of human characteristics. A Koopa resident walked up to us smiling.

"Welcome, travelers!" Said the friendly Koopa.

"Thanks... Um... Where are we, exactly?" I asked.

"Hm? Where are you, you ask? Why, this is **Petalburg**! Sorry, but it's been a long time since we've had visitors here. We're kind of remote."

"Yeah. No kidding..." I said in a "no shit, Sherlock" tone.

"Yeppity, once that dragon Hooktail was spotted flying around this area... We, it didn't help tourism, put it that way. People just stopped visiting."

"Sounds like you're talking about the big, flying lizard that we saw earlier. It doesn't look that tough." I said without giving a crap while crossing my arms.

"So, it's called Hooktail, huh? Oooooh, scary name! Pffffft! So anyway, green boots, have you ever heard of these things called Crystal Stars? We're on this quest for them. It's very important!" Goombella asked.

Crystal Stars, you say? Hmmm... Nope, can't say I have. Sorry about that. You might want to speak with the mayor, though. He's old... Really, really old. As such, he knows all kinds of stuff we don't. Koopas of his age, are...um...really smart. Anyway, the mayor lives in that pink house up ahead. You should go check it out." He replied.

"A pink house? Sounds totally hideous...but it should be easy to find. Thanks for your help!" Said Goombella.

"Right. We have our objective. Now, let's get moving." I said to Mario and Goombella.

**End of Chapter 3...**

**(Let me know if you guys get confused about anything in the story or if you have any questions in general. Later!)**


	4. Chapter 4:A Foreboding Vision

**Chapter 4:A Foreboding Vision**

**(All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners. I own nothing from Nintendo.)**

**Miami, Florida, Unknown Facility, Floor 52, Dr. Levins' Office, April 9, 2013, 4:02. P.M.**

**(I noticed that I didn't give a description for the good doctor in the first chapter. If you're still wondering, he has brown hair with waves on it and he always wears a pair of glasses. His eyes are brown and he wears a black t-shirt with a basic white lab coat. He also wears a pair of dark blue business pants and shoes. He is Caucasian, has a pale white skin color, and he is 37 years old. This is not his real age as he has been taking a special youth regeneration drug that he developed in secrecy. His real age is 63. Anyway, things aren't looking so good for the Science Director since a certain someone's little disappearing act...)**

"So, let me get this straight, super science... You let Project:Alpha ESCAPE!?" Yelled General Fisher over the phone.

"Sir... Please listen to me for a seco-"

"NO! You listen! You may have thought that Project:Alpha was disposable, but that boy has more worth to us than you believe! I talked with your employees yesterday and they told me that your little lab rat is the most powerful out of all of your experiments! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Barked the General. The director was cringing as he heard the general lay into him.

"The squad didn't shoot him! Let alone, got the chance to!" Snapped Director Levins.

"What are you driveling about, maggot?"

"I'm saying that he's probably not dead. Some strange light engulfed him before I had the squad open fire on him. Thankfully, I created a contingency plan if he ever escaped."

"How?"

"To keep track of all of our test subjects, I took the liberty of making sure that all of them were tagged with special tracking devices. But for some reason, Project:Alpha's tracking device is not located anywhere on the planet."

"How is that even possible?"

"I'm not quite sure, myself, but the signal seems to be originating from a nearby dimension. It's possibly a bug in the system, but it could actually be where he's been roaming around."

"Well, if he's in another dimension, just how do you plan on catching him?"

"Simple. As a special side project, we've been working on a special cross-time inter-dimensional transporter that will allow us to cross over to different worlds. Originally, it was made in 1973 for colonization purposes. An incident that had taken place 11 years later crippled the machine, forcing us to scrap the idea. But...given our current situation, all of our efforts are being put into rebuilding and finishing it. We still have the original blueprints for it, and it's still in the beta testing stage, but it should be finished and ready by tomorrow."

"Make sure it's ready by then, maggot. We have to get that rat back in his cage before he becomes too powerful for us to control. We need those genetic codes!" Said the General.

"Don't worry, sir. We'll catch him. I'll make sure that Projects Delta and Psi stop him dead in his tracks. They may still be uncooperative now, but I have ways of making them change their minds." The director replied before hanging up.

"I'll find you, . And when I do..." He said while creating a black and white energy orb around his fist.

(The camera moves to an elevator, heads down to what looks like the deepest part of the facility, and goes into a large, vertical room that could go for at least 500 yards filled with people in giant tubes cryogenically frozen and in the middle by the entrance, is a woman covered in a strange type of armor with the word OMEGA written at the foot of the tube and the symbol on the back of her right hand.)

"...My plans will truly begin..." Muttered the Director while grinning in an evil tone.

The woman in the tube suddenly opened her eyes.  
_ _

**Petalburg, April 9, 2013, Wednesday, 12:03 P.M.**

"GAAAAAAAAAAH!"

I suddenly felt a surge of pain in my head and an image of a woman opening her eyes as if she was looking right at me was burned into my brain. I grabbed my head and leaned on the wall of dirt to my left, trying to keep my balance. Mario and Goombella saw me in pain and rushed over to aid me.

"Rick! Are you alright? Rick!" Yelled Goombella.

I looked up while still holding my head and responded.

"I'm not sure, but... I think something really bad is going to happen soon. I can't tell what it was for sure, but I think that what I saw... it was a woman with armor inside some kind of cryogenic tube."

"Huh?"

"She looked like she was sleeping. And then... Her eyes just shot open. It felt like she was looking at me." I said a bit frightened.

Mario and Goombella looked at each other in confusion and pondered my response for a brief moment. They both had worried looks on their faces, but soon turned back to me and helped me walk from that startling episode. A young Koopa girl rushed up to us after witnessing me nearly collapsing.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" She asked me.

I got up and looked at her for a moment and she was at least a foot smaller than me, and she seemed to be in her early 20s. She had orange hair, blush marks on cheeks which showed that she had makeup on, white shoes, and the typical yellow skin. I couldn't really see her breasts because to shell was blocking them, though. She wore pink, short sleeves, pink nail polish, purple eyeshadow on her eyelids, a purple hair scrunchie making her hair into a ponytail, pink wristbands, black lipstick, and she had a green shell like the others. I could tell right away that she was a bit of an intellectual. Judging by how she reacted to my condition, she seemed really nice, too. I guess I had a way of telling who and how people were right off the bat.

"Ah, don't worry about me, miss..."

She responded, "...Koopie Koo. It's nice to meet some new faces around here."

"Likewise, miss Koopie Koo. My name is Rick Evans. It's a pleasure to meet you." I replied with a smile.

She blushed to my gentlemanly politeness and responded, "Please, Rick. There's no need to be so formal with me. Just Koopie Koo is fine."

"Ok, then. Do you know where the mayor's house is?"

"Yeah, it's right next to you. Just go up the steps behind me and go to your left."

"Thank you for your help, Koopie Koo!" I said as I smiled.

She blushed again from my comment and walked away holding her cheeks. We soon followed her advice and found a pink house. There was no doubt in my mind that this was his house. We walked inside to find a very old Koopa with a cane. His eyebrows were so hairy and fuzzy that his eyes were completely obscured from sight. He even had a beard to match.

"Excuse me. Are you the mayor?" I asked him.

"Hmph? Whuzzat? Someone there? Who is it? WHO?! What do you want from me? I know! You're thieves! Here to rob a defenseless old Koopa! Despicable!" Replied the old man.

Mario jumped in surprise to this accusation, but quickly regained his composure and shook his head saying no.

"Go on, do what you will... but as you can plainly see, there's nothing to steal here. Oh, I guess I have a little money... Take it, you fiends. And my antique shell, too. Just leave the photos of me and the missus. Can't do without those memories..."

"How about you listen to us first before you go making wild accusations, old man? Huh? We're not thieves." I said to him.

"What? Not thieves, you say? Well, what's your story, then? Oh, wait... You folks looking for the Crystal Stars?"

Mario nodded yes to the old timer. I was quite surprised that he knew what we were here for.

"Well, why didn't you pipe up before, you ijit! We're just wasting time, here! The Crystal Stars you say you're hunting... Errrmm... Wait... What did I hear about those dang things, again? Aha! Got it! Hooktail! Hooktail's got what you're looking for! It's this enormous, ornery dragon. Eats folks, they say. You know Hooktail, right?"

"Yeah, we've heard of that thing." I replied.

"Well, this Hooktail's brutal fly-by snackings have all of us on pins and needles. So, are reckless fools... I mean... Are you gallant heroes off to rough it up?"

"Damn straight, we are."

This DOES sound promising! Why, if you can rid us of Hooktail, we'll shower you with gratitude and rewards."

"The Crystal Star's all we really need, old man. No one needs to throw us a parade."

"Wait, what's that I hear? You'll accept no reward?"

I responded, "Nope. No reward necessary."

"What unselfish people! You're noble, indeed... Yup, a bunch of good eggs, Now... What did you say your names were, again?"

"Rick and Mario."

"...Rock and Murphy? Hmm... Those are fine names. Yes, fine names, indeeds. Well now, Rock and Murphy..."

"It's Rick and Mario." I said to him a bit annoyed.

I appreciate that, you two! They ARE nice eyebrows. Now, listen up."

_"He wasn't even listening to me!_" I thought as I face palmed.

I could've sworn that I heard a trumpet sound off as I did that.

"If you're intent on going to Hooktail's castle, find the secret pipe near this village. I don't know where it's at, but I know you need stone keys to use that pipe. The keys are somewhere in Shhwonk Fortress, just past the village. Get them first."

Mario and I nodded in confirmation

"Well then, Murphy... Get going and take care of that Hooktail monster! You too, Rock!"

"Our names aren't...! Ah, screw it. Let's just go."

I knew that I would be wasting my breath explaining to him, so we just walked out of the house. Our group soon approached the gatekeeper blocking the path to Shhwonk Fortress.

"Halt! An old stronghold called Shhwonk Fortress lies ahead. A stone creature lives there. At least, it MIGHT live there. This gate is here to keep it out. My job... is guarding the gate. ...But if the mayor says it's OK, I'll let you pass. Careful out there, though!" The gatekepper said to us.

"Umm... Excuse me! Err... I beg your pardon! Wait a moment, PLEASE!"

As soon the gate keeper finished opening the gate for us, we heard someone's voice. It sounded rather timid. We turned around to see a young, male Koopa behind us walking in our direction. He looked like he was about 6 feet tall, in his mid-20s, and he had a sky-blue hoodie on him with dark blue sweatpants. He had white shoes on, a green shell, yellow skin, and a bandage on his nose.

"Pardon me for yelling like that... I was panicking. Umm... How where do I begin? M-My name's...Koops. I heard you're traveling to Hooktail castle. So, anyway, I, uh... I have a favor to ask. ... Well... Ummmm... Oh, just... Just forget it. Never mind. Ignore me. Good... Good-bye." The shy said before walking away.

"OOOOOO-K... That was weird... What do you think that was about? Talk about issues!" Said Goombella.

"Yeah. That was kind of weird, wasn't it?" I asked.

We soon agreed not to dwell on the topic and we moved on to the fortress. We ran into some new types of enemies along the way. They weren't so tough for us as we kept fighting our way through. We soon ended up in a room with a thwomp statue in front of us. The statue soon shook and started to open it's eyes.

"Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! You're the first contestants I've seen in a while! If you've come all this way here to Shhwonk Fortress, you must want the stone keys. And if THAT'S the case, then you must compete against me. If you win, I'll let you through to where the stone keys rest. However, if you lose, you will suffer a terrible fate. And by "terrible," I mean awful. Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! So? What do you want to do?"

"Bitch, please! We can beat you. Bring it on!" I said with confidence.

"Mmmm hmmm hoo ha ha! You're in for it now!" Said the statue.

Suddenly, the entire room fell apart and it looked like we were on some kind of game show.

"What the flying fuck?"

I look at all of my surroundings and look at the front of us again to see the statue wearing a bowtie.

_"He's not serious."_ I thought.

"Hey Hey, ladies and germs! Welcome, everybody, to the 65th Super Fun Quirk Quiz! Perk up those ears! If you correctly answer five of the following questions, you win! But get three of 'em wrong, and you'll suffer a cruel and unusual punishment!"

_"He can't be serious."_ I thought.

"Now...for the first question!"

_"He's serious. This is actually happening. Fucking hell."_ I thought. -_-'

I'll admit it. I wasn't much of a fan of game shows. Although I was in confinement since childhood, I was provided with some basic home furnishings. A tv was one of them and I watched a bit of it when I back on my old world.

"What's hidden in this place?"

"Stone Keys!" Exclaimed Goombella.

"Is that your REAL answer? Are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuure?"

"Pretty sure, dude. Yeah." I replied.

**(DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!)**

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct! That question was too easy... But it gets harder from here! Much harder! ...So prepare yourself! On to question two! What do one Mr. Softener and one Fire Flower cost at the shop in Petalburg? Total!

"16 coins." I responded.

"Is that your REAL answer? Are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuure?"

"Yes."

**(DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!)**

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct! That question was too easy... But it gets harder from here! Much harder! ...So prepare yourself! Moving on! Question three! What is the name of the mayor in Petalburg?"

"Kroop."

"Is that your REAL answer? Are you suuuuuuuuuuuuuure?"

"Yes."

**(DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!)**

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's...correct! That question was too easy... But it gets harder from here! Much harder! ...So prepare yourself! We're not done yet, folks! Question four! Tell me, now! Where is the Crystal Star?"

"Hooktail Castle. And before you ask, yes. It is my real answer."

**(DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!)**

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! Right again! Tell me you didn't just get your fourth right answer! It can't be true!" Cried the statue.

"What? Getting scared?" I said mockingly and laughed.

"That's it! I'm making these near impossible! Get ready for brain pain! Are you ready for the diabolical question five? How can one get from Petal Meadows to Rogueport?"

"That's your definition of near impossible? Weak. It's only by going through a pipe. And yes, it is my real answer.

**(DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!)**

"NOOOOO! AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! That's... That's right! You correctly answered all five questions! You win!"

The entire area was suddenly put back together in a blinding flash of light. Everything was back the way it was earlier.

"SO...VERY...AAAAANGRY! I can't believe I lost! I guess I have to let you through! Stupid rules..."

"Oh no! He's gonna cry!" I taunted.

The statue soon moved back and a pipe appeared from right underneath it.

"HMPH!"

"Glad that's over... C'mon, guys! Let's move!"

**Shhwonk Fortress, April 9, 2013, Wednesday, 1:32 P.M.**

After we went down into Shhwonk Fortress, we found out that the place was not only flooded with water, but that it was also crawling with hyper little black creatures known to Goombella's book as Fuzzies. Keeping those little bastards off of me was annoying, but we managed to find both of the stones. The Sun Stone and the Moon Stone. Just when we were about to leave, a Golden Fuzzy appeared in our path, blocking us.

!

"Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeork! Hey, you suspicious types! This is our place. And you coming in here is rude, rude, RUDE!" Said the Golden Fuzzy.

"Listen. We didn't come here to cause trouble. We just came for-

"Sorry, suckers! If you want a pleasant good-bye, too bad! Now I lunch on your head!"

"I wouldn't advise trying." I said in a threatening tone.

He lunged at me, but my speed made me move so fast that I couldn't even be seen. To retaliate, I kicked him into the wall on the other side of the moon stone room's direction.

"Meee-OOOF! Hey! Ow! You chumps are tougher than you look... But I'm not through yet!" He yelled at us.

"Oh, please. Who's gonna stop us? You?"

"Not me. Them. Everyone! GET 'EM!

Soon, an entire hoard of Fuzzies dropped down from the ceiling and gathered around the Golden Fuzzy.

"Fuck... I just had to ask, didn't I?" I said as I facepalmed myself.

They all charged at us and we started to become overwhelmed by their numbers. It's true that I could've used a lot more of my power, but I didn't want the entire place crashing down on top of us. At that moment, I had just remembered that Goombella told me before at the inn that there were many rare creatures in this world. I knew I had to catch that Fuzzy. If we could just take down the leader, these guys would be in complete confusion. I just needed to stun it. An idea from one of my previous fights suddenly struck me with inspiration.

"Mario! Goombella! Deal with the horde! I got an idea!" I yelled.

They both complied and I performed a wall run on the left side to get to the Golden Fuzzy.

**"SONIC CLAP!"**

As I launched my attack, the entire horde cringed in pain from its power and I jumped from the side and caught the little bugger before he could run off.

"Meeeeeeeeee-uuuuurgh! You got me!" Said the Golden Fuzzy.

"Will you listen for a bloody minute! We just wanted the stone keys to get to Hooktail castle! Hooktail's been eating a lot of innocent people, and we're the only ones that can stop it!"

"Meeeeeee-oooooh! Well, why didn't you say so?"

"I was trying to, but you just ignored me and went out of your way to kill us, idiot!" I yelled.

"All right! All right! You can have the keys! Just leave and don't hurt us anymore!"

Once I released my grip on the little douche, he and all of the other Fuzzies around us just ran off in different directions. Mario went into the pipe that led into the surface, but I managed to stop Goombella before she could go as well. What happened between us was still bugging me in the back of my skull.

"What's wrong, Rick?" She asked me.

"I needed to ask you about something. It's about...errm..."

"You can tell me. Whatever it is, I'll listen." Goombella said to me assuringly.

Goombella was so kind to me all the time. We've only known each other for a couple of days and she seemed so open hearted to me. I knew I had to ask her at that moment.

"Well, what did you want to know about?"

"That night we had."

Goombella thought to herself for a moment to think, and she soon remembered what I was referring to.

"Since we actually... Y'know...did it, and we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, what does that make us, anyway? I asked.

"Well...Probably friends with "benefits."

I looked at her with puzzled stare about what she meant by that. She could easily tell that I had no clue of what she was talking about.

"It pretty much means that since we're not actually in a committed relationship, I don't really have a problem if you have sex with other girls."

"Wait, seriously?" I asked a bit shocked at her.

"Yeah. Don't worry, though. I'm still totally loyal to you for helping me. Don't forget that, k? " She said before winking at me.

"Yeah, ok. I can deal with that."

Her smile was so warm to me. She really cared about me a lot. I was so happy to have someone like her at my side. I knew from that moment that there was no way in hell that I was going to head back to my old home. Why? Because I've already found one here. I was smiling along with her until she looked at my side and noticed something.

"Your arm..." Goombella said changing her tone into an upset one.

"What?"

"You're hurt..."

I looked to my side to see that the horde actually managed to do some real damage to me by opening up a gash in my arm. Although I barely felt it, she wouldn't stop looking at it.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Let's just get back to town." I told her.

Despite my saying so, she still worried about me the whole way back to town. I guess she cares about me a lot more than I thought. Once we had arrived back in town, we stopped over at the inn to rest for a bit. Thankfully, I had also packed a First-Aid Kit before I left my world. When I said I packed all sorts of shit, I literally meant it. Goombella still had a worried face on her as she watched me heal myself. I injected myself with some adrenaline, got some alcohol pads, used some thread and needle, and wrapped my upper arm in bandages. Goombella was a bit impressed with my medical knowledge, even though I didn't get to go out much. It's a good thing that I had a really quick healing factor. After my wounds were taken care of, we took our leave from Petalburg and set off for Hooktail castle.

"Ummm... Excuse me..." Said a familiar voice.

The voice came from in front of us. That same timid Koopa from earlier was standing right in our path.

"It's... It's Mario and Rick, right?"

"Yeah?" I responded in a curious tone.

"Look, I... Ummmm... See, the thing is, I've been waiting here in the hope of getting to speak with you. I have to ask you something, and you can say no, but I'm going to throw it out there."

"Ok." I said to him.

"Ummmmmm... See... I was wondering... Would you..."

"Dude. Just fucking spill it already!"

"OH, PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU TO FIGHT HOOKTAIL! PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU!" Yelled Koops.

His sudden burst of courage caught me and Mario off guard. It literally made us jump back a few feet in surprise.

"Sorry about that. See... My dad... He went off to battle Hooktail long ago. ...But he never came back. I miss him, of course... I miss him badly. But this isn't just about avenging my dad. Well, no... That's not true. Revenge is a part of it, I guess. A big part. But the truth is, I want to finish what Dad started. For his sake. For everyone's sake." Koops explained to us.

"I dunno, man... This is gonna be one BIG battle." I said to him unsure of whether we should take him along or not.

"I... Man, this is embarrassing... See, everyone always says I'm a crybaby... A weakling. But if I can defeat Hooktail... Well, I won't be those things. I'll be strong, like my dad. I know it'll be dangerous, but I still want to go! Please, you guys!" Koops pleaded to us.

"Ah geez... I really don't want to bring in any innocent bystanders into something like this. But after hearing his explanation and seeing him beg to go with us, I don't really have any other option." I thought while I had my eyes closed.

"...Welcome to the team, Koops." I said to him with a smug look on my face.

"For real?"

"Yep."

"No kidding?"

"Nope. No kidding. You can fight, right?"

"Yes! Thank you so much! You won't regret this!"

**(Koops has joined your party!)**

"Hope you're still hungry, Hooktail. Because revenge is a dish best served cold." I thought with a smug look still on my face.

"Ok, guys! Let's get going!"

"Koops..."

Just as we were about to go to the castle, someone called out to us. We turned around to see that it was Koopie Koo.

"Oh... Golly... Umm... Hi... Hi, Koopie... Koopie Koo... Did you overhear all that?" Asked Koops.

"Well, part of it. Koops... I THOUGHT I heard you say you're off to fight Hooktail... But...you're joking, right? I mean, you're not exactly a powerhouse... He'll eat you up!" Said Koopie Koo.

"But I want to be tougher. For you... So I have to do this..." Replied Koops.

"No, Koops, you don't. I mean, going off to some dangerous place? It's... It's stupid. So what if you're timid? And sort of a crybaby. I don't care about all that. I just want you to be you. So, don't go..."

"Sorry, Koopie Koo... I've made up my mind. No need to worry, though! After all, I'm traveling with Mario and Rick! These guys don't joke around!"

**"FINE! IGNORE ME! STUBBORN KOOPA!"**

Suddenly, Koopie Koo went into her shell and started charging at us.

"Incoming!" I yelled.

Me and Goombella dodged her attack easily, but Mario and Koops weren't so lucky...

"Ugh... Women..." I thought with an upset look on my face.

"I'm sorry, Koopie Koo... I swear to you... I will come back a stronger Koopa!" Koops muttered to himself.

"Well, everybody, that's that, I guess. No turning back! Hooktail's castle awaits!" Said Koops in a half confident tone.

"Right. Let's go!"

As we walked and battled enemies along the way, we finally came across the area near Hooktail's castle. We realized that there were two holes identical to the Sun and Moon Stones after looking around for a bit. We placed them in and the big rock in between them exploded, revealing a green pipe. We soon went inside and it took us to the hills next to the castle. I checked all of my weapons before we went in. I suddenly noticed that there was something shiny in my bag.

"What's this?" I wondered out loud.

I reached deeper into my duffel bug and found two large, Claymore blades inside my bag. I unsheathed them from their black scabbards labeled 'The Dreadnought Cleavers' and they looked like they were made out of pure steel and they had small revolver chambers on the rain guards. There was a shield, and a lot of ammo boxes and cartridges inside the bag too. I didn't see this stuff in there before, though. They were all filled with 6.5×55mm Swedish rounds. There was even a note on one of them.

"Hope this little gift helps. BTW, they can morph into different weapons and be combined, too. How? Just use your imagination. You'll figure it out. See you soon. -D"

That note suddenly got me thinking. This was probably put inside my bag before my defection. Whoever gave this to me must've known how I felt about wanting to go to the outside world again. They also must've been someone in the facility. I guess they were really trying to look out for me, huh? I gotta thank this D person if I ever get the chance to. Whoever they are. I took the pleasure of equipping them to my sides and they made me look like a total badass.

**Hooktail Castle, April 9, 2013, Wednesday, 2:05 P.M.**

We soon arrived inside and I was starting to feel so excited, that I was getting goosebumps on my skin. I could just tell that this was going to be fun.

"Oh, man... Hooktail Castle... The stories were all true... This place is TERRIFYING..." Said Koops.

"Don't start to get cold feet now, Koops. Let's move.

As we progressed through the castle, more and more enemies kept popping up around us. They didn't even deserve to be sliced up. Instead, I just hit them with the sheaths of my blades to show that I wasn't even trying. I made sure that I was going to save my energy for the real fight. We managed to get some good distance in the castle until we came across a room filled with bony corpses that used to be Koopas. Koops stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a certain pile.

"Hmm? Koops? What's up, dude?"

"Oh... OH, NOOOOO!" He yelled.

He barged past me and Mario to examine the bones even further.

"These bones... They remind me of my father... There's... There's no doubt about it! It's my father! DAAAAAAAD! Umm... Wait, what's this? Guys! My father's clutching some kind of letter. Or at least, his...ugh...bones are. So... What should I do? Should I read it?"

"You probably should. If he couldn't beat Hooktail, he might've at least written a good-bye to you on it. Or maybe it could be a way to beat Hooktail. Who knows?" I said to Koops.

"Umm...OK. I can do this. I... I'll read it. Ahem..."

Koops begins reading the note.

"I came to this castle to destroy Hooktail, but I am stuck and can go on further. So, in this letter, I shall note Hooktail's weaknesses for those who follow. The dreaded Hooktail cannot tolerate creatures that begin with 'cr' and end with 'icket'. Hidden somewhere in this castle is an item related to Hooktail's weakness. If one is to have any hope of defeating Hooktail, one must first find that item. One last thing: if faced with ultimate doom, the fiend will use any trick to save itself. If you hope to defeat it, do not give in to your kinder nature and fall for its tricks. Alas, I do not have the strength to continue writing... Already, mist veils my eyes... My last words go to my son, Kolorado: I love you, and I'm proud of who you've become." The note ends.

"Huh? "My son, KOLORADO"? Not "Koops"?"

"Dude, seriously? What the fuck? Drama queen alert!" I said out loud.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooops... Ummm... Yeah. I guess this isn't my father after all."

I facepalmed as I said, "No shit, Sherlock."

"But if this isn't my father... I wonder if that pile of bones over THERE is my dad..." Koops wondered out loud.

We looked in the same direction and saw a pile of red bones in front of the door. One of my animal instincts from the old experiments kept telling me that something bad was about to happen.

"Uh... Guys...? Maybe we shouldn't mess with that bone pile. Something in the back of my head is telling me that we shouldn't do this..."

"But if we don't, we won't get through." Replied Goombella.

I sighed knowing that she had a valid point. Looking at Goombella's face jus told me that she felt the same way I did. We walked up to it and suddenly saw it shake.

!

"Blaarf harf harf HARF! You clearly don't value your lives much if you've come to disturb us. You will go no farther, and from this moment on... You'll be nothing but bones!" It said to us.

"Oh shit..."

Suddenly, an entire mob of Dull Bones dropped out of nowhere and started pushing us away from the door were the red one was.

"Ummm... What're they doing? Ouch! It's no use, you guys! They're all over us! What should we do?" Yelled Koops.

Koops was right. These guys were really not gonna give up. I struggled to go forward, but soon they all started to punch, kick, bite, and claw at me. Those pricks were actually starting to draw blood from me. A lot of it. I immediately noticed that they were trying to kick us out. There was no way I was going to let my ass get kicked by a bunch of skeletons.

**"OH HELL NO! I AM NOT GETTING KICKED OUT!**" I snapped.

My dual blades suddenly turned into sledgehammers at that moment. I wanted to ponder how I did this, but the mob was more important at the time. I grabbed them both and started swinging away at the horde. I smashed as many as I could before killing the Red Bones. Once the red one was dead, all of the others just ran off and my hammers changed back into swords. We ignored them and ventured on further into the castle. Goombella soon noticed all of my wounds and staggering mobility from a few minutes ago. As we walked further into the castle, we soon reached a treasure room and found out that we weren't the only ones here. Some mouse woman in a red spandex jumpsuit with pink high-heels, a sack full of unknown items, and a red mask was raiding the boxes! She put her sack down and looked at us.

"Huh? Oh, my! Who's this handsome piece of cheese? I can't believe there are other thieves here besides me. How very strange..."

I could just tell that she was referring to me as the "cheese." Needless to say, I blushed a bit.

"Who... Who are you?" Asked Goombella.

"Me? Why, I'm Ms. Mowz, the globe-trotting thief! Heard of me, sweetie? I heard there were rare and valuable badges here in this castle. That's why I'm here. But the real question is...why are people like YOU roaming in such a run-down place?"

"She looks familiar..." I thought while examining her.

"I'll tell you why, Miss Ugly-Pink-Shoe-Whatever-Thief: we're here to beat Hooktail! And just so we're clear on this we set our sights on the Crystal Stars before you! OK?" Said Goombella.

"...Crystal Star, you say? Mmmm hmm hmm! I didn't know a thing like THAT was hidden in this castle... Sounds intriguing! Perhaps I just heard something you didn't want me hearing? Mmm hmm hmm hmm!"

"Shoot!"

"Smooth, Goombella. Real smooth." I said in a sarcastic tone.

*Cough!*

"Ugh... Shit. Dammit... Not yet..." I thought.

"Oh, but that's OK... I mean, you were looking for this Crystal Star first... And I already found the badge I was after, so I'll let you get your Crystal Star.

Ms. Mowz suddenly started walking towards me. She got at least a few inches away from my face.

"LET us?! LET us?! What's that supposed to mean?"

Before I could react, kissed me on my cheek! I managed to catch her scent before she backed away and I figured out just who she was at that very moment.

"Mmmm hmm hmm hmm! It means that I must say bye-bye for now, Mr. Cutie. I know. It's sad. We just met, and already it is time to say farewell. Alas... "

"H-HEY! You little flirt! Who do you think you are, kissing Rick?!" Goombella exclaimed.

"Oh, I almost forgot... I have a little secret to share with you. Somewhere in this castle is a badge that'll help you best Hooktail, or so I've heard. I don't know what kind of badge it is. Maybe you found it already, maybe not. If you're going to fight Hooktail, I'd recommend finding that badge first."

I had just remembered that I had picked up a badge from earlier. If that was it, then I needed to take full advantage of that weakness.

"Well, take care, handsome swordsman! Let's get together again real soon!" She said before jumping out the window.

"What is WITH that girl? What a flirt!" Said Goombella.

"Heh heh! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that somebody's jealous!" I mocked Goombella playfully.

"What!? I am not!" She snapped at me.

"Yeah. Sure you're not." I said sarcastically.

**(WHACK!)** She punches me in the arm. Quite frankly, I just plain laughed since she didn't hit me that hard.

"Stop it, will you!?"

"Errm...guys? She left her sack here..." Said Koops.

"Meh. Leave it. She'll be back." I told them.

As we searched the boxes for what was left in the room, my body started to feel heavy...

"Ugh..."

"Rick?" Goombella said with a worried face.

suddenly appeared back at the window. I guess she remembered her stuff.

"I can't believe I got so careless... Oh my... Darling, you don't look so good..."

My eyesight became blurred and my hearing started fading. The next thing I knew it, I fell over and blacked out. Everyone running over to me was the last thing that I saw before I nothing but darkness take over my mind...

**End of Chapter 4...**

**Author's Note:I wanna go on record saying that you guys are free to give me any good and/or bad reviews. I just want some feedback to know how well I'm going with all this. KTHNXBAI!**


	5. Chapter 5:The Dragonslayer

**Chapter 5:The Dragonslayer**

**(All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners. I own nothing from Nintendo.)**

**Hooktail Castle, April 9, 2013, Wednesday, 4:28 P.M.**

I awoke from my slumber. I could still feel like I had a major headache from earlier. I look at some parts of my body, like my legs, chest, and arms to see that there were areas wrapped in bandages and that my shirt was off. I look to my left to see that a note was left beside me.

"What the heck? What's this?"

**(Rick picks up the note and reads it.)**

"Dear Rick, if you're reading this, then that means we've moved on ahead and we're waiting for you nearby Hooktail's main room. We've left your things in your bag and we found out that it had a special function to change form. When I pressed it by accident, it suddenly surrounded itself with a bright light and it changed itself into a backpack. We weren't sure about how the science in your world works, but we didn't really feel like questioning it. All of your weapons and items are ready for you and we left a few mushrooms for you near your bag to help you heal faster. Be careful. -Koops"

**(Note ends.)**

I looked ahead by the window to see that my bag was there with some Mushrooms and my swords next to them. I struggled to get up and I noticed a sharp pain in my right arm. It was still bleeding through the bandages. I walked over to my stuff and I ate the mushrooms, bringing back all of my lost energy and healing my wounds. I grabbed my backpack and walked over to the window. I decided to use my special anti-gravity power to fly over to my party's position. I look to a nearby bridge to Hooktail's tower to see that there were a bunch of Koopas and Goombas knocked out. Hate to be those poor bastards.

_"Ohh... I really hope Rick is alright..."_ Goombella said in her mind.

My quick air ride paid off as I reached the front door at the top of the tower with my friends chatting.

"Hi, guys! Miss me?" I asked as I reached the top.

They all turned around to see that my wound had almost fully healed and that I was floating beside the wall. I descended from the air and I was immediately tackled by Goombella with a hug. She looked at me with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face, "You're alright... I... I was so worried that I thought you..."

"Shh... Shh... It's ok now, Goombella. I'm fine. You don't have to worry anymore." I whispered in a comforting tone.

I held onto her and hugged her back as she looked into my eyes and I looked into hers. I gave her a happy and caring smile, while she gave me a smile that said 'Please don't go away' on her face.

"Uhhh... Guys? Are we all set?"

The question came from Koops who broke the silent moment that we both had together. Me and Goombella quickly separated from each other with embarrassed looks on our, now bright, red faces. I checked my bag and searched for any useful items for the fight. We are going to be fighting a dragon, after all. I found some of my RPGs inside of my bag and loaded them up with fresh, out-of-the-box ammo. I turned my head back to my friends asking, "Guys, remember, once we head in there, there's no turning back. Are you ready?"

Mario nodded yes to me.

"I-I'm ready..." Koops said shakily.

"Don't worry, Rick. I'm ready." Said Goombella.

"Alright then."

I soon kicked the double doors in, knocking both of them off of their hinges. Not surprising, seeing as how this place is ancient.

"Knock! Knock! Oh, Hooktail! You've got visitors!" I said with a confident, smart-ass tone.

"Who dares approach me?" Said a deep, unknown voice.

We look ahead of us to see Hooktail, who was right in front of us roaring at the ceiling. The dragon was looking down right at us.

"Hmm... So... You are friends of the strange-garbed one who came earlier? I didn't expect more to come here to steal the treasure I protect... Such rashness... That was foolish, I fear. Do you really think you can beat me? But you're so small. And you don't appear tasty. I suppose you might make a good snack. And the bottoms of your feet smell like they might make a good sauce with some spices. What I'll do is sauté you to crispy goodness and gobble you down...HEADFIRST!"

"I think that you'll find that we're a bit on the tough side, bitch!"

Hooktail took a step closer to us. "Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?" Hooktail said as she licked her lips.

Mario charged at Hooktail with his Power Smash badge ready. Hooktail began shoot fireballs at him, but he jumped and dodged effortlessly, landing right in front of Hooktail's front feet and swinging his hammer down, creating a new sound from the blow. Hooktail recoiled in pain from Mario's attack. Her eyes began to look a bit...off. It was as if she was losing her appetite.

"Bleck! That awful sound! It...sounds like a cricket! How did you know? Stop that this instant! Urp... I got really bad...ugh...food poisoning once when I ate a cricket. I HATE them! Oh... Fight it, Hooky... Just hearing a cricket chirp makes me feel woozy!" Said Hooktail.

"Yeah? Tough shit!" I yelled.

Hooktail grew annoyed with my sharp tongue and opened his mouth. She launched a gigantic fireball into my direction, but I reacted quick enough by using my swords right at the very moment it would hit me. I put my right hand on my left sword's handle and did the same with my left hand and right sword. By drawing them both at the same time, I unleashed a sort of X-shaped cross slash attack to destroy the fireball. The fireball dissipated from my attack, leaving some of the flames still on my sword. Hooktail's jaw dropped a bit in shock from my head-on attack but soon shook off the dazed amazement.

"Like a badass."

I charged into Hooktail with both of my swords' edges making large lines in the ground. They were also creating sparks from the friction, building up even more fire. I jumped high into the air and launched myself right into her face. She moved a bit to dodge, but not before my right blade sliced deeply into her right side. Some blood poured out from the wound that I dealt, making her even angrier. She looked at me with an upset expression.

***ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAR!***

"U mad sis? HAHAHAHAHA!" I taunted.

Mario once again, lunged straight for Hooktail. With another power smash to the feet and another cricket sound, Hooktail began to look a bit more ill. "Ooooog... Must...not...gag... My poor tummy... Uuuuurp... So very woozy..."

Hooktail soon regained her composure and swung her right foreleg at me, hoping to get a hit. It was to no avail as I managed to high jump and dodge the attack. Still in the air, I yanked out my RPG and took aim at Hooktail.

"Fire in the hole!"

I fired he shot right into Hooktail's right eye trying to blind her. It did a considerable amount of damage, but she managed to shake off the blast and launch a wave of fire breath at me.

"ARRRRGH!"

The force of the wave sent me flying through one of the support columns and break them. I didn't think that this monster could summon that much strength. I attempted to get up after becoming a bit dazed from her attack.

"Rick!" Yelled Goombella in horror.

**(Goombella's POV)**

I couldn't believe it... Rick had just recovered and he just, like, took a possibly fatal injury! I had to help him. Hooktail was eying him as if he was just turned into toast and started walking towards him. I just remembered that I had a Shooting Star item from one of the enemies we beat earlier. I threw it into the air, making the item turn into a giant star and then breaking up into a whole bunch of smaller stars hurdling themselves right into Hooktail. Hooktail winced in pain from that and looked back at us. Hooktail looked a bit angrier than before and launched its smelly, fiery, dragon breath at me. I thought that I was as good as dead. I shielded my face and covered my arms, waiting for it to hit me, until someone got in the way and saved me. To my surprise, it was Koops who totally saved my life by using his shell to block the attack. I knew that Koopa shells were tough, but damn! I never really thought that they were flame-retardant!

"Go! Now!" Yelled Koops.

As I moved, Koops kneeled down trying to keep himself from falling over. Hooktail opened her mouth and tried to gobble up Koops, but at the last minute as if time had been slowed down into a crawl, Koops pulled himself back into his shell and dodged Hooktail's fangs by a few feet. He soon launched himself into Hooktail's feet with his Power Shell move and sent a lot pain into Hooktail. It sure serves that monster right for all the damage that it's done.

"You little bugs! I'm gonna-"

Before that monster could say another word, Rick came out of nowhere and sky kicked Hooktail in the face. That look on Rick's face gave me no doubt in my mind that he was pissed.

**(Rick's POV)**

Once I landed in front of my friends after my quick surprise attack, I gave Hooktail a very angry stare. The dragon looked like it was a bit scared from my gaze.

**"IF YOU EVEN LAY A CLAW ON THEM, I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEART OUT. DO YOU HEAR ME, HOOKTAIL!?"** I yelled.

_"Whoa... Rick sure is scary when he's mad... (Gulp)"_ Koops thought.

"W-Wait! Hold up a moment! I give up! Please! I won't be so bad anymore. I promise, in fact, I'm sorry! For everything! Er... Yeah... To prove it, I'll give you 1,000 coins! What do you say? Can you forgive me?" Asked Hooktail.

There was no way in HELL that I was going to trust this scale-faced bitch.

"Here's my two word response to that offer. EAT. SHIT." I said to her still pissed off from a few moments ago.

"What? You must be joking! You don't need any coins? Then how about the lovely, rare, extra-special badge I have? I'll give you that. It's one of a kind! And it's yours for a limited time only! Will you take it?"

"Are you shitting me? Fuck off."

"Errrr... Really?! Well, I suppose I could apologize by letting you smell the bottoms of my feet. People pay good money to do this. I'm being completely honest right now. Really. So? Care to take a whiff of the rich, yet delicate scent of my world-renowned feet?"

"I'd rather eat my own balls. GO TO HELL!" I snapped.

"Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmm! You aren't a very trusting fellow, are you? It's important to be able to trust someone, you know. Err... I guess I'd better..."

Hooktail backed away for a moment before lunging right at us, while swinging her tail at us. I managed to pull off a high jump to my right side, but Mario, Koops, and Goombella ended up getting knocked into the left side of the room. Mario dropped a Mushroom during the attack and Hooktail ate it in one bite to recover some of the power that she lost. Watching them get hurt like that made something snap in my mind. It just felt like everything in mind went blank for a brief moment. Hooktail was just laughing as she had knocked out my friends.

"Ohhh ho ho ho ho ho ho! Ahhh! Now my strength has returned to me!" Said Hooktail.

She soon turned to me and I looked down with an angry look on my face. My face looked like it was from an anime with a shadow covering the top half of my face.

"You hurt them..." I whispered.

"Hmm?"

**"YOU'LL REGRET THAT!"** I roared as I exploded with anger at Hooktail.

Hooktail took a step back as she could see the angry fire within my eyes. I felt a powerful red aura around my body take form. My eyes were glowing red and my teeth were turning into very sharp fangs. My arms had felt like they had gotten bigger from my new strength. I was so fucking furious with Hooktail's actions. She looked at me with nothing but pure fear on her face trying to back away and escape. I wasn't going to let that happen. I extended my arms out to their sides and made two energy orbs in my hands.

**"RING OF FIRE."** I said out loud.

Two powerful blast of fire erupted from the orbs in my hands and covered the entire place with flames. The fire became so large that they engulfed the windows, making them impossible to get through and escape. I made the fire out of my own energy, so that means that I'm the only one that can make it stop. She suddenly lost the look of fear on her face and looked at me with a smile.

"Are sure that you won't reconsider? I'm sure that I have one, last thing to convince you."

**"THERE IS NO POSSIBLE DEAL THAT YOU CAN MAKE WITH ME THAT CAN CHANGE WHAT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW."** I said with a deep, booming voice.

"Oh really?"

Hooktail was suddenly engulfed in a bright light. She started shrinking and transforming within the light into more of an anthropomorphic form what I could tell. When the bright light ceased, I was in complete awe. Hooktail had transformed herself into an anthro dragoness.

"Whoa..." I said as my voice returned to normal.

I examined her for a brief moment to see that she had a sort of resemblance to an Argonian from Skyrim. She had a red skin complexion on her scales. She had on a yellow, Amazonian-like bra on her chest, she looked like she had E-Cup breasts, and she had on a sort of gold loincloth around her waist. She looked like a woman in her mid 30s and she had a slender hour-glass figure on her body. She still had beige-colored skin on her stomach and her fingernails were colored black. She had grey eyes, her hair was a long, wavy red and it was golden yellow at the ends of its tips. Her wings seemed a bit bigger than before. They looked like they were at least 6-7 feet, judging by their size. It was really just a rough guess on my part. She had curves in all of the right places, her tail with blue tips at its ends was long enough to coil up around a whole person and constrict them, and she still had that same smirk on her face from a moment ago.

_"Holy crap, she's hot! Man, the things I would do to her... Hey! Wait a minute! What the hell am I thinking!? What's wrong with me?!"_ I thought.

My body heat suddenly felt like it had just spiked from out of nowhere at that same moment. I couldn't control my arousal and my member was starting to pitch an uncomfortable tent in my pants. Hooktail was walking over to me in a slow, runway fashion as this happened. I tried to move, but for some reason, my body wasn't letting me. I felt a bead of sweat go down the side of my head as she finally got in front of me and rubbed my arm with her hand.

"W-W-What the hell did you do to me?" I snorted in anger.

"Hmm hmm hmm. Whenever I choose to use this form on either a male or female, I can use a special power to immobilize them with the 'Lust Stare.' It's a special little technique that my mother taught me when I was just a young lizard." Hooktail said to me in a voice that sounded like a woman in her late 20s.

She started licking my neck after she said that. My best guess would be that she was trying to sample me before she had her chance to eat me alive.

"Now... On to my offer..."

"(Sigh) What is it?"

"It's quite simple, really. If you become my personal little slave for the rest of your life, I'll let your friends live. If you refuse, then you'll have sealed your fate. Of course, I think that you should take my offer." Said Hooktail as she was pressing her breasts and body against my chest.

_"This one is SO handsome! I'm surprised he's actually managed to restrain himself for so long. However, there's no way a single man can resist my kiss. Once I've broken his mind, it will be all over for him. There's never been a man that could resist me! Hahaha!"_ Thought Hooktail.

She was getting really close to my face as she put her arms around my shoulders and put her weight onto me. It basically resulted in the both of us falling to the floor and with her on top of me. The arousal was beginning to cloud my mind, but I refused to let go of my priorities as I struggled to keep my control. I could feel my arms literally moving on their own, starting to caress her body.

_"Damn it! If I don't do something soon, she's gonna fucking DEVOUR ME! Must... Resist...the temptation...rgh..."_ I thought.

Hooktail soon pressed her lips against mine and used her dragon tongue to search every area in my mouth. I could hear my own heartbeat every second as things went silent from the kiss. When she separated herself from me, I had a dazed expression on my face. She gave me a smile, which gave me the impression that she thought that she had beaten me.

"Well? What do you say, my pet?" She asked in a seductive tone.

I managed to respond to her by grabbing onto her shoulders and making her a little bit surprised by my movement.

"I've got three words for you... **KISS...**"

I pulled back my head.

"**MY...**"

I lunge my head forward.

"**ASS!**" I said as my headbutt came in contact with Hooktail's head.

As she brought herself up to hold her head in pain, I pulled my right leg back and kicked her off of me with enough force to send her back by at least 25 feet. That was more than enough to get the time I needed to get back up.

"Wha!? But... HOW?!" Hooktail exclaimed.

"I've managed to keep myself together through countless training procedures in intimidation and torture back on my old world. Nobody can make me their bitch, and neither can you." I said with a shit-eating grin.

This only further angered Hooktail as she went back into her true form and tried to smash me with her right foreleg. Naturally, I dodge-rolled to my left to avoid her attack and I ran right under her.

**"NOW YOU'LL SEE WHAT MY POWER CAN DO!"**

After earning some time to get more of my energy back, my speed increased greatly as well and I managed to knock her clean off of her feet. I followed up and went right underneath her.

**"SOLID KNUCKLE STORM!"**

I didn't even think to use my extra arms and I still managed to do plenty of damage to Hooktail. She almost looked like she was ready to puke. My hundreds of punches were more than enough to knock her into the ceiling. As Hooktail was falling down with her back facing the ground, I ran up one of the support columns and reached the middle of the ceiling. I launched myself from the ceiling and went straight at Hooktail like a missile.

**"I HOPE YOU'RE READY FOR YOUR LAST MEAL, HOOOKTAIL. BECAUSE IT'S GONNA BE A SOLID KNUCKLE SANDWICH!"** I said rocketing towards the falling Hooktail.

_"This...can't be possible... He's just a human... How can he be this strong? And how...could he resist me? He has...such a dominant will... He's...amazing."_ Thought Hooktail.

**"OPEN WIDE, BITCH! SOLID KNUCKLE METEOR!"**

As if a camera was viewing me from at least three different angles when my attack landed, my punch sent an explosive wave that could be heard for miles. The destructive force from the impact onto her stomach managed to send her crashing down into the ground and making some jagged chunks of it rise up. As I landed on one of the chunks in front of Hooktail while the fires went out, I noticed that everyone was waking up from Hooktail's last attack. As everyone faced me with happy and relieved looks on their faces, I suddenly felt like my eyes were beginning to get blurry. I never really knew what it felt like to truly cry because I was always in fear. I dropped down onto my knees and held onto my face, and everyone walked over to me and held me tightly in a group hug.

"Hey, it's ok. Don't cry." Mario said to me.

"Don't worry, Rick. We're here for you." Goombella said to me.

"We're still alive, buddy. Don't worry." Said Koops assuringly.

I was still bawling about what just happened. That moment when they were hit... It just hurt me so much... I almost thought that they were...

"I...I...thought that...I was gonna be alone again...(Sniff) Please...I don't want to be alone again... Please..."

"Don't worry, Rick. I promise that I'm always going to stick with you. You don't have to worry about being alone, anymore." Goombella said in a comforting tone.

"Yeah! I'll do the same. I'll stick with you and be your friend, too!" Koops said.

I couldn't believe that everyone was being so kind to me. It felt like a dream and yet, it just felt so real... After a minute of crying, I was able to get my face out of my hands and look at them all with a small smile.

"Thank you... My friends..."

As we all held each other in another group hug, Hooktail suddenly spat out something from her mouth. It looked like a blue shell. And what's more, a Koopa was still alive inside of it. He was male and he looked like he was in his late 50s. He had a light brown skin complexion like me and he had brown fuzzy eyebrows with a small, brown beard. His shell and his shoes were colored dark blue.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'm out! I'm finally out!" Said the unknown Koopa.

Everyone stopped hugging to look and as soon as we did, Koops let his eyes open wide and jaw drop open at the same time.

"WHOA! It... It can't be!"

_"Judging from the way Koops is reacting, I guess it's safe to assume that he knows this guy."_ I thought.

"Eh?"

"Da... DAD?!"

"What the what? This guy is your old man, Koops?!" I asked.

"Hey! You're... You're Koops! Hey, Son! You've gotten so big since I saw you last!" Said Koops' father.

"Well, yeah, I guess I have... But who cares, Dad? I mean, golly! What happened to you? Where've you been all this time?" Asked Koops.

"Well, I came here a while back to deal with Hooktail and all was well and good... But just before my finishing blow, he played a trick on me and gobbled me down whole. I've been hiding in my shell for the ten years since then...inside Hooktail's belly! And boy was it nasty! Yuck! I'm so glad to finally get out! Ahh ha ha ha ha ha!"

Koops suddenly started to look a bit upset with his father and put his head down a bit while crossing his arms. I thought that I was seeing things when he looked like he had a sweat drop at the side of his head floating in the air. I decided not to think about it too hard, even though it did raise a few questions from me.

"Honestly, Dad... Don't you know how worried about you we all were? For ten long years we all thought you'd...you know! We thought your game was over!"

"Oh, sorry, Son, but... I'm OK! That's good, right? We're together now, right? Hey, speaking of which... What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Oh, come on, Dad... I came here to defeat Hooktail, who's been wreaking havoc in town. And Mr. Mario and Rick here are looking for a gem called the Crystal Star."

"Crystal Star? This wouldn't be what you're talking about, would it?"

His father put his hand into the side of his shell and pulled out a glowing, diamond-colored gem shaped like a star. There was no doubt in my mind that the same gem that he pulled out was the Crystal Star!

"What's THAT?"

"I found it down there in Hooktail's belly. Nice, huh? I kept it as a souvenir. So...this is the thing you're looking for? Perfect! Just perfect! You can have it!"

"W-Wait... Seriously!? You're just gonna give it to us?" I asked.

"Come now! I won't take no for an answer. You're Koops's friends. Please take it!" He replied to me and Mario.

"Thank you, sir!" I said to him with a smile.

I walked up to the Crystal Star and it began to fly around me. It stopped at the top of my head and shined brightly.

**(YOU GOT A CRYSTAL STAR! AND YOU LEARNED THE SPECIAL MOVE EARTH TREMOR!)**

"This is so cool. We got our first Crystal Star! Woo!" I exclaimed.

"You are the one that can save them all..."

"Hmm? What?"

Suddenly, the star exploded right in front of us and turned itself into an orb. The soon launched itself right into my chest and into my body. I felt a new surge of power coursing through my body at that very moment, as if my body's power just spiked and doubled.

"Whoa! Rick! Are you ok?" Asked Koops.

"Damn, that felt trippy. Don't worry, though. I'm fine, you guys. I'm not dead yet. Come on. Let's get the fuck outta here."

As we started walking out of Hooktail's room, something in my mind just kept telling me to do something about Hooktail. I was sure that I could've just left her there to die, but I had to do the right thing. I soon stopped walking and looked behind my back to see Hooktail in pain.

(Sigh)

"Hey guys, you all go on ahead. I wanna make sure that we're good here." I said to the party.

"Are you sure?" Asked Goombella.

"Don't worry, baby. I won't take long."

As they walked out of the room and down the stairs, I walked back over to Hooktail's head, sat down, and just looked at her. She was in pretty bad condition from my last attack.

"Hey. Hooktail, look at me. I know you're not dead yet."

"Please... No more... I beg of you... Please...don't kill me..." Hooktail said weakly to me.

"Calm yourself, dragoness. I'm not here to finish the job."

She looked at me in surprise to know that I wasn't going to kill her. Hooktail soon changed her face into an inquisitive one.

"So... What are...you here for?"

"I'm here to make an offer."

!

"You see... My parents taught me quite a few things before they were killed, and two of those things are to learn how to forgive others and to learn how to give them a second chance. Which brings me neatly to another point. I know how much you value your life and how much you love eating, which is why I've decided to heal you so that you may live on, but only on the condition that you stop eating innocent people and start eating normal food. Otherwise, we're gonna have a problem. It's basically an offer you can't refuse. I won't let you. So, what will it be?"

By looking into her eyes I could tell that she knew that I wasn't just calling bullshit. Hooktail closed her eyes and chuckled a bit.

"Clever. Very clever, boy. You've managed to turn the tables on me. Very well. I accept your terms. I'll stay away from the civilians and start eating normally. In all honesty, I never really was much of a fan of eating people. It's just what my family does. By the way, what is your name? I never heard you tell me."

I immediately used my gravity powers and moved in front of Hooktail's face. I reached into my bag and pulled out a Life Shroom. I remember beating this out of one of the Koopa Troopas earlier.

"It's Rick Evans. Now, open wide."

Hooktail complied and I dropped the Life Shroom into her mouth. Some of her cuts and bruises disappeared and she started to try and transform again. As the light subsided and she transformed again into an anthro, she walked up to me and blushed as she kissed me on the cheek, which made me blush as well and turn away.

"You're a very kind and compassionate young man. To show your enemies mercy... It's no wonder your friends care about you so much." She said to me as she smiled at me.

"Whatever. See ya." I said walking away as I waved her off.

"What is this feeling that...I have in my chest? Am I...feeling something for this warrior?" Hooktail thought.

As I walked away from Hooktail, I kept getting this feeling that this isn't the last that we've seen of each other. I shrugged it off as I kept walking out of her room.

"Man... These last few days have been pretty crazy. I hope the princess is doing okay..." I wondered out loud.

**End of Chapter 5...**


	6. Chapter 6:Triple Threat

**Author's Note:I'd like to make an announcement. For those of you who have played the game, "Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door", or have watched it on Youtube, I'm going to be allowing at least 4 OCs into the storyline and join Rick's crew in Glitzville. The OC's will meet Rick and they will be fighting against him in the Glitzpit. They'll join his crew afterwards. I was really thinking of just putting in 3 for the 3rd chapter, but I guess one more couldn't hurt. I have some requirements for the OCs, though.**

**1. The character has to be a different species from the Mario universe than the ones that are currently and/or will be in Rick's party. (Boo, Toad, Dry Bones, Pianta, etc.)**

**2. The character has to have their own set of powers like everyone else. They could be elementals, warriors, or monsters from the Mario universe. Just make sure that they can fight. Don't make them too overpowered. Remember, some species already look close enough to human, so don't be afraid to add features to those that don't. It's your choice.**

**3. Make sure that you put in a decent and clear description of their abilities, clothes, and backgrounds. Feel free to customize your characters and their appearances with whatever clothes that you choose. I'll be accepting one OC from each person. If I really like the OC that you make, then I'll include him/her in the story.**

**Finally here's a template for everyone to work off of.**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Species:**

**Personality:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Height:**

**Gender:**

**Appearance:**

**Clothes:**

**Accent:**

**Weapons:**

**Abilities:**

**Background:**

**(BTW, I've made a name for the place that Rick was placed in. From now on, It will be known as MEGATech Inc.)**

**Chapter 6:Triple Threat**

**(All characters from Nintendo go to their respected owners. I own nothing from Nintendo.)**

**-1 Day into the Future-**

**Unknown Location, April 10, 2013, Thursday, 8:12 A.M.**

**(No P.O.V.)**

As two soldiers walk into a room with a young blonde woman with a crown, pink dress, and earrings through a mechanical door on a surveillance camera, they both cross their arms in an x-shaped fashion and continued to walk forward until they got past Lord Crump, who was also the same man that Rick and the others had encountered at the docks in Rogueport. "O great, exalted Grodus! We brought the Princess Peach you ordered, sir!" Said the front soldier.

"Well, well, well, my pet...isn't it about time you told us where the map is?"

The camera pans over to an old man speaking. His voice sounded like he was in his late 60s and he had a large white beard covering his face. He was wearing a large cloak that was colored black and purple with a large red stripe going down the middle area in the front of his body with a white X on the front. The collar was high enough to cover the lower half of his head, and he had goggles like the rest of them. He was wearing white gloves and he held a large specter in his hands. The old man also had a round sphere on his head filled with many high tech pieces equipment which supposedly gave the impression that it was his brain and that he was part cyborg.

"Princess Peach, you will speak when spoken to." Said Grodus in a more serious tone.

"I'm telling you, I don't know." Replied the princess.

"There's no point in trying to hide it, silly girl. We know that you had it. We KNOW this. Trust me, it's very much in your interest to be absolutely honest with us. We X-Nauts are not all rainbows and lollipops, I assure you. We're quite nasty."

"..."

A holographic screen suddenly appeared in the middle of the room and it showed a typical X-Naut soldier crossing his arms like the others.

"Grodus, sir! I have news."

"Report at once." Replied Grodus.

"You know that Crystal Star we thought maybe Hooktail had? Well, someone nabbed it."

"What? WHAT did you say? Someone else is after the Crystal Stars? And he defeated that Hooktail creature, you say? SPEAK, soldier!" Grodus demanded.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. There's more, too. See, according to the report... It was a group of four people. One of them had a dark skin complexion and he had a black, long sleeve shirt on him. Another was a young Goomba girl, presumably in her 20s, and wearing archeologist gear. The third one was a Koopa with a bandage on his nose, a light blue hoodie, and a green shell. And the last one was a mustached dude in a red hat and blue overalls that helped pull the job." Said the X-Naut reading the report on the screen.

"Mario!"

Peach's accidental slip of information allowed Grodus and the others in the room to overhear what she said.

"Excuse me? Mario?" Questioned Grodus.

Peach's realization of her mistake hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh no!"

"Gaack ack ack ack ack! So, you know of this Mario, do you? Hmm... Those fools matter not at all. I'll know all about them before long, that I promise. I grow bored of talking. Take Princess Peach back to the holding room." Said Grodus.

"Yessir!"

"And men! Take good care of Princess Peach. She is not to be harmed."

"You got it, sir!" Replied the two soldiers as they crossed their arms and walked out of the room with the princess. The holographic screen vanished shortly after and Grodus immediately turned to face Lord Crump.

"Well, Lord Crump... If this Mario character and his allies have the map...then it's highly likely that they'll find the Crystal Star we're hunting in the Boggly Woods. You must return there immediately and hasten the excavation. It must not fail."

"Whuzzat?! Oh, yeah, sure! Roger, Grodus! And with that... Pow! I'm gone!"

As Lord Crump exited the room, Grodus was beginning to contemplate his ability to handle his mission.

"I wonder if sending Lord Crump there alone was wise. He is a bit...out there. Hmm... X-Naut! I summon you!"

As Grodus commanded, an X-Naut soldier walked into the room.

"You rang, dude? I mean, sir? You rang, sir, Grodus, dude? Grodus? Sir Grodus, sir?"

"Shut up. Go get the Shadow Sirens over here." Grodus said a bit annoyed.

The soldier was a bit surprised and scared by his sudden suggestion of troops to be called over.

"The Sh-Shadow Sirens, sir? But they..." The soldier replied a bit frightened.

"I don't care how you planned to end that sentence, fool. Go get them. Now." Ordered Grodus.

"Gotcha!"

The soldier crossed his arms and walked out of the room. An old woman's voice suddenly came out of nowhere.

"The honorable Grodus in need of us? Then we arrive without delay."

Suddenly, three unknown figures appeared from the ground. They all had different colored hats on. The first one had on a blue and white striped hat on her head. She looked a bit bony and that she was in her late 60s, she had white gloves on, and she had grey hair. The second one behind her had on a yellow and white striped hat. She was quite chubby, she had orange hair, white gloves, and she was in her late 40s. The last one at the back had a red and white striped hat with gloves. She looked like she was in her late 20s and she had pink lipstick on. Her hair was pink and she had it in a swirl. She also had a slender figure on her body. All three of them had their hair over their eyes.

"Mmmwee hee hee hee hee... Pray tell, did the princess tell you where the map is?" Asked the eldest one.

"Still your tongue, Beldam. We would already have it if you'd snatched her earlier... But now, since you missed your chance, some poor fool named Mario has the map."

"It wasn't my fault, truly! There were too many prying eyes there. Too many... Besides, a strange old man showed up at the moment of truth, and we had to retreat. Why worry. All we have to do now is find this Mario and his cohorts and steal the map, yesss?"

"Indeed, that is YOUR duty. Must I remind you? That map is vital to the X-Naut plan. I will have my men prepare all available information on this Mario. For now, hear me, Beldam! You Shadow Sirens must take care of this troublemaker!" Grodus ordered.

"Mmmmwee hee hee hee... Fear not, sire. I, Beldam, shall return with what you seek."

Beldam turns around to face the other two sirens.

"Let's go, my lovelies! Marilyn! Vivian! We've got a job to do!" Beldam said as she disappeared into the ground.

"Guhhhhh..." Mumbled Marilyn as she did the same.

"Mmm hm hm hm hm..." Chuckled Vivian as she followed suit.

As the cameras viewed them disappearing, it began panning through the entire HQ until it stopped at Peach's holding room. The princess was holding her chest as she had a worried look on her face.

"Oh, dear... Here we go again... I can't believe I'm kidnapped again. Mario and Toadsworth must be worried sick. Again. But...hang on a moment! Where in the world am I, anyway? It's so unfamiliar... I wish I could at least let Mario and Toadsworth know that I've been caught." The young princess said to herself.

As she looked around her room for a few brief moments, the door out of her room suddenly opened up.

"Hmm? What was that? Hey! How odd... The doors opened by themselves."

As the princess walked out, she surveyed the entire area from top to bottom.

"Weird... It doesn't look like anyone's around."

As she walked to the far end of the hall, the door on the other side opened up.

"How do I keep making these doors open? How odd..."

As she walked inside, she noticed that it was a bit dim until the lights brightened up by themselves and she saw a computer with a large screen and a camera on top of it. Much to Peach's surprise, a man's computerized voice began talking.

"Hello, Princess Peach."

"Huh? What? Who said that? Where are you?" Asked Peach.

"How amusing. I am right here before your eyes. I am this laboratory's main computer. I am the TEC-XX. Many call me TEC. You may. Sir Grodus created me to be a perfect computer, one that is flawless in its reason." Said the computer.

"Grodus... Wait, he's that awful dome-headed thing who interrogated me earlier, right?" Asked Peach.

"Sir Grodus is not awful. He is a very great person. He is marvelous." TEC stated.

"Well, I don't think so. But I doubt I'll change your mind... So, I'm wondering... Why did you lead me in here?"

"I am unsure. An unusual program deviation occurred when I observed you earlier. My higher-brain circuitry malfunctioned and nearly overheated at your image. Also, an unidentified impulse sped through my processors. These events are new to me. There is more to this phenomenon, as well. I ran diagnostic programs...and their solution was... I want to know more about you. I want to observe you. Such a compulsion has no precedence. Cause unknown. I, the perfect computer... I must diagnose this unusual situation. I will not fail. That is why I led you here." TEC explained.

"Wait... Did you just say... You want to observe me? ...To know more about me?"

!

"Could it be that you... No! Impossible! It can't be. You're a computer..."

"What has happened to me? If you know my malfunction, you must tell me of it."

"Oh, I couldn't, really... Because...it's just too weird." Peach muttered.

"Please tell me. Please. I am the world's best computer. I am perfect. There should not be anything that I do not understand. Please." Begged TEC.

"Well, you know, maybe... Is it possible that, well... you're...in love...with me?" Peach suggested.

"Love"? What is... "love"? I cannot compute this." Asked TEC.

"Wait, you don't know what love is? Love... How do I explain? Love tells you when you want to be with a person forever. It makes you happy just to see that person happy, smiling...having fun. When you love someone, you will do anything to help when he or she is in trouble." Explained Peach.

"Happiness? Fun...? I have definitions for these words, but... My programming is insufficient. There should be nothing I cannot comprehend. I am a perfect computer."

"Comprehend" love? Love's not something you comprehend, TEC. You feel it."

"... Princess Peach... Will you teach me to feel this thing you call "love"?" Asked TEC.

"WHAT? You're a computer! Why would you care about love?"

"I am perfect. There must be nothing that I cannot comprehend. Nothing. That is why you must help me understand this thing called "love." Please. If you have any wishes that I can grant in exchange, I will grant them. But, of course, I am unable to grant such a wish as letting you escape..."

"What, are you insane? You X-Jerks kidnapped me like common Koopas! And now you call me in here to teach you the meaning of love? I should spit on your screen! You'll grant my wishes? Ha! Why should I believe you?" Peach said in an upset tone.

"I understand that you are angry. That emotion I comprehend. You need not teach me now. But I must learn of this thing. I must. There is no alternative. I must be a perfect computer. That is why, if you would just consider teaching me, I will grant your wishes. Do you understand me, Princess Peach? Now, tell me your wish."

TEC was very determined to figure out what the emotion of love was and what it meant to others. After closing her eyes and taking in a moment to hear out TEC, she open her eyes and faced him.

"Are you sure? Well, OK... Here goes... Can I contact someone? The sooner, the better..."

"Yes, of course you may. Use my communicator to send wireless mail to anywhere you want. If you wish, you can use it right now. It is no trouble. Use the keyboard in front of you. Enter the recipient, address, and message."

"You mean this keyboard? All right... Let me give this a shot.

(Keyboard keys clicking)

"OK, it's ready, TEC. Could you send it?"

Three pictures of a piece of mail appeared on the screen and lit up from left to right.

"The message has been sent. For the time being, you may return to your room. I will call you again when I want to ask you something."

Peach motioned herself to the door as she heard TEC make his statement. She turned around for a quick moment and faced him.

"Uh... OK then. Good night." Peach said as she left the room.

"Good night, Princess Peach."

**Bowser's Castle, April 10, 2013, Thursday, 9:08 A.M.**

The camera moves into another area with many mountains with lava flowing right below them. There's a large walkway connecting to a large castle above the lavaflows. The camera zooms in to see the interior filled with torches, chains, and Koopas. Some of the Koopas were dressed up in black armor with spikes and some had helmets on their heads with hammers in their hands. As two armored guards by the door heard heavy footsteps, they immediately grabbed both handles and opened the door revealing the King of the Koopas himself: Bowser.

"Gra ha ha har! Bowser, the mighty Koopa king, has arrived! Hold your applause, minions! But now that I'm here... Kammy! You crusty old hag! Why did you summon me?" Bowser asked.

As the two Koopa guards closed he door behind him, the left guard behind Bowser spoke up.

"Uh, Great Lord Bowser... The, uh, crusty hag Kammy Koopa will arrive momentarily. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience, but please wait at the rear of the room."

As Bowser finally walked to the far end of the room, the door that he had originally walked through had opened up and it revealed an elderly female Koopa in purple garments with a witch's hat. She had white hair, her back was a bit hunched over, she had glasses on, and she held a wand in her left hand.

"Ah! Lord Bowser!"

The old lady Koopa ran as fast as she could to get to Bowser, who was still waiting on the other side. She was already exhausted by the time she got to him.

"I've just now returned. I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting, my lord."

"I bet you are, Kammy Koopa! Now, out with it! Why have you called me here?"

"Please, Your Grumpiness! Don't be so impatient with your poor servant. Ahem... It's my displeasure to report that Mario, that scum, is off to a town called Rogueport." Kammy stated to Bowser.

"Pbbbthbtth! Am I Mario's babysitter? I don't care what he's doing! Are you going to call me every time that guy blows his nose, or what? Sheesh!"

"Yes, well, you see, my lord... Apparently Mario is hunting for an amazing treasure.

"Tuh-Treasure?!" Bowser gasped.

"Yes, Mario has gone in search of star-shaped jewels known as the Crystal Stars. I'm researching just what they are...but there's no question of their high value."

"The Crystal Stars, you say? They sound like good world-conquering tools! I want 'em! Hmm... Yes... Very good... Continue researching this for me, you brainy hag, you."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Leave it to me. By the way, Lord Bowser... Do you like fried eggs?" Kammy asked.

"Do I... I LOVE fried eggs! LOVE 'em! But...what a weird question. Why do you ask?"

"Well, during my Mario recon, I stopped in a lovely place called Petal Meadows. I was planning on taking everyone there for a picnic, having some eggs and toast... Of course, I wouldn't think of sending out invites without asking you first, Lord Bowser!"

"AIRHEAD! A picnic?! You MORON! This is no time for fun! See, THIS is why my evil plans always derail! Because you clods always goof off! AAARGH!" Bowser roared as started stomping his foot on the floor.

"Oh, dear... Lord Bowser... Please calm down... Remember your blood pressure..." Said shakily while trying to keep her balance.

A MagiKoopa soldier walked up to Kammy and whispered something into her ear.

"Hm? What's that? Whaaaaat? Is this TRUE?!"

The MagiKoopa nodded and walked off.

"Lord Bowser! Terrible news! Some bold fool abducted Princess Peach in Rogueport!" Kammy yelled.

"HUHHH-WWWHHHAAATTT?! Tell me you're lying, Kammy! How? When? WHERE? Who'd do such a thing? Besides me?"

"I'm afraid we don't have that information quite yet... The investigation's ongoing. One thing is most certainly confirmed, however: the princess has been kidnapped."

"Damn it all! Under NO circumstances is ANYONE allowed to kidnap her without MY say-so! I will NOT stand for this! I'm going to Rogueport, NOW! I've gotta kidnap her back!

"DADDY!" Yelled an unknown girl's voice.

"Ah, crap. Not now..." Bowser thought

As the double doors on the other side were blasted open with a wave of smoke coming from them, a young Koopa girl walked through the smoke and across the hall to get right in front of Bowser. She was 5'5, she had a yellow and tan skin complexion and she had no hair, but she had a cute pink bow with polka-dots on her head. She had puffy pink lips, pink pumps on her feet, long white nails, long eyelashes, and a wand in her right hand. Her eyes were blue, she had a pink shell with small (but not that sharp)spikes on her back, there were bracelets on her wrists, and she had a red, beaded necklace. She was wearing a green blouse with skinny blue jeans that were both hugging her body. She had slightly puffy cheeks,making her a bit baby-faced, pink eyeliner, a slender figure, and her breasts were D-Cup size. Her tail was longer than a normal Koopa's tail and it had a bow on it. She held her hips with her hands and gave Bowser a very serious glare.

"Ugh... Yes, Wendy, my little Koopa Princess?" Bowser asked, trying to not become too aggravated.

"You promised that we could go on vacation this week, daddy! You said that you would make time in your work for our chance to relax!" Wendy whined.

"Kiddo, I know that I made a promise, but can't this wait? Something very important came up and-

"NO! You promised, dad!"

"Wendy! I don't have time for this right now! Just go hang out with your brothers!" Bowser snapped a his daughter.

"But-

"Wendy! I can't take you on vacation!"

"Then, I guess I'll just follow you then!"

"You'll do no such thing! NOW STAY HERE!"

Bowser walked out of the room, got inside his clown copter, and broke down the left castle wall. Kammy soon hopper onto her magic broom and tried to catch up with Bowser. "But... Your Grunginess! Wait up!" Yelled Kammy.

As Wendy watched them both leave the castle, she went to the castle hangar to use one of the spare battleships.

"If I can't have the vacation he promised, then I'll just make my own and follow him! And if I run into that plumber again... I'll make him pay..." Wendy thought as she took off.

As Kammy and Bowser flew into the sky, they both concentrated on their newest goal, completely unaware that there was someone else tagging along with them on their little trip.

**MEGATech Inc., Underground Labs, April 10, 2013, Thursday, 9:10 A.M.**

As Dr. Levins walked through a mechanical door into a new room with at least 30 armed guards, they saw a large circular machine that had a pinwheel shaped vortex inside of it with power coils all around the sides. The machine was glowing brightly as the coils were emitting large amounts of electricity, while there were multiple scientists at the controls for the machine nearby. The doctor turned around to find two long rows of 15 guards were on the left and right sides of the portal.

"Bring in Delta and Psi." Ordered Dr. Levins.

At that moment, two people in stasis chambers with collars on their necks were being rolled inside of the room on hand trucks. The chamber that had the Delta symbol showed a young man in his 30s with the same clothes as Rick, except that his shirt was short-sleeved. He was 6'2 and he had the Delta symbol's triangle etched into his right arm. He had a light pink skin tone and he had blonde hair on his head. His eyes were grey and he had a scar that goes across his left eye. The other one that had the Psi symbol on its stasis chamber had its entire body covered in a black cloak with a hood. His or her head was also covered by a metallic mask that looked like it was from Elfen Lied. (If you don't know what it is, look it up. Warning: It's kind of gory, so don't watch it if you're squeamish.) The mask was made out of steel and it had two holes for the eyes. It also had a smile with sharp, jagged teeth, like a monster's mouth. Underneath the cloak it had the same clothes as Rick. It was probably standard issue for the super soldiers. Both of them looked directly at Levins. The one in the Delta chamber glared at him with an enormous amount of hate, while the other one's face couldn't be described since his face was totally obscured.

"Well then... Are you both ready for your mission, Delta and Psi?"

"Bite us, Levins. My name is Trevor and that's Eon. Get it right." Said the one in the Delta chamber.

Dr. Levins soon pulled out a remote from his lab coat's pocket and pointed it at the both of them. He pressed a button on the remote and the collar sent at least 22 million volts electricity through their bodies.

**(BEEP! BZZZZZZT!)**

**"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

"Care to repeat that sentence, Delta?"

He let go of the button, granting Delta a chance to speak. "Grrgh... Yes, sir..."

"Good. And just to make sure that we know how your current progress will go, we'll send a spybot to monitor you.

(Snaps Fingers)

As both of the subjects we're let out of their chambers, a small floating orb with a camera lens began hovering around the both of them. They began walking forward into the portal until they were both stopped and they looked back at the doctor one last time before heading into the portal.

"Be warned. It may have only been a few days since his escape, but Alpha is still an unpredictable opponent. There's no telling how strong he's gotten in just a short time. Do not underestimate him." Levins warned.

As they both nodded in unison, the two subjects walked through the portal without any resistance with the spybot following them.

**Petalburg, April 9, 2013, Wednesday, 11:42 P.M.**

**(Rick's P.O.V.)**

After our battle with Hooktail, Koops's family reunion, and our long walk back to Petalburg, we all decided take a rest so that we could be fully prepared for tommorow. Everyone was still sleeping at the inn, but I just couldn't keep my eyes closed. I got out of my bed and hopped onto the roof. As the town was completely silent with nobody in sight, I set my gaze into the starry, nighttime sky. I began wondering about everything that's happened in my life so far. I leave my old life of captivity... I make some new friends in a new world... Hell, I even ended up on a quest for a legendary treasure! It's all just happening so fast and yet... I still wonder... What's behind the Thousand-Year Door? Who brought me here? Why? And what are these voices in my head that I keep hearing? It hurts my head just to think about it all at once.

"Hey. You alright?"

I looked down to see that Goombella and Koops were right below me. I hopped down and just looked down for a moment, still pondering everything.

"Rick? What's wrong?" Asked Koops.

"Don't worry. I'm ok. I was just doing some thinking." I replied.

"About what?" Asked Goombella.

"Meh. Nothing important. Just idle thoughts. You guys can go back to sleep."

"Ok, but... I still have one question." Said Koops.

"Shoot. What is it?"

"How long have you had that brand?"

"Brand? What brand?"

"The one on your right hand."

He was right. There was a brand on my hand that looked like two A's. One was Uppercase and the other was a lowercase a, but I never noticed it before. Was it given to me back on my old world? Or did I get it after I came to this one? Jesus Christ... So much confusion...

"I don't think it's something we need to really worry about. You guys go back to bed. I'm gonna look at the stars a bit more."

They both looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and walked back inside the inn.

(RUSTLE! RUSTLE!)

"Hmm?"

I started looking around after I heard something that sounded like grass being stepped on. There wasn't a person in sight.

"Huh. Must've been a squirrel or something."

**(No P.O.V.)**

Rick did think that it was nothing but a mere animal, but it was actually a certain thief that our heroes ran into at Hooktail's castle.

"That was close! I thought for sure that he would've noticed me by the bushes. Oh... Such a handsome man... To survive fighting Hooktail, he must be quite the warrior! Oh..."

Ms. Mowz's cheeks began forming a blush and she started rubbing her breasts. She started giving off small, pleasured moans as she continued rubbing.

"It's been so long...since I've found a man like...this..." Ms. Mowz thought.

As she was rubbing, she unzipped her jumpsuit and moved on to her nipples. They both hardened as she started pinching them, making her give off a sharp gasp. Fortunately for her, Rick had already fallen asleep from staring into the sky. As she lowered her right hand down to her pussy, she stuck two of her fingers inside making her feel a jolt of delight as she bit her left index finger.

"Oh, god... I... I want him...so badly... I want him...inside me... Oh, Rick...my cheese-hunk..." She thought.

As she kept fingering herself, she brought her left breast up to her mouth and suckled on it. As she about ready to climax, her thoughts of Rick finally welled up so much inside of her mind with her pleasure, that it was too much for her to take until she finally made her sweet release.

"Ahhhhh! I'm cumming!" She yelled.

Everyone was still sound asleep as she finally climaxed into the grass. She was too exhausted to keep going and simply cleaned herself up and got ready to leave. As she looked around to see if anyone noticed her, she looked at Rick sleeping like a baby on the roof of the inn.

"See you soon, sweetie."

As she ran off into the darkness, she looked back at the town, hoping that she would be able to see Rick and finally wrap him around her arms.

-The Next Day-

**Petalburg, April 10, 2013, Thursday, 8:15 A.M.**

**(Rick's P.O.V.)**

As I woke up from my deep sleep on the roof of the inn, I looked to my right to notice hat Mario and the others were chatting about something. I hopped down and got into the conversation.

"Morning, guys. What's up?" I asked.

"Koops still wants to travel with us, and Koopie Koo wants to go with him." Replied Goombella.

"Ah, ok."

"Koops, my lad... Are you telling me that you're going with Mario and Rick?" Asked Koops's dad.

"Umm... That's right, Dad... I'm going to continue traveling with Mario and Rick. And then I'm... Well... I'm going to come back a strong Koopa like you, Dad!" Replied Koops.

"Nicely said, young Koops! THAT'S my boy! But always remember this: you are my son, Koops...and Iam your father!"

"Koops, my sweet... I'll be right at your side...watching you prove yourself." Said Koopie Koo.

"Ahem... May I just add... If anything happens, you can always come home, you two. Don't you ever forget that. This village will always be your home." Said the Mayor.

"OK! Thank you everyone. Well, we're off! Sorry to keep you guys waiting. You know...farewell. So, where are we going?"

"Let's head back to Rogueport. Remember, guys? "The bearer of the Magical Map shall unfurl it before the Thousand-Year Door. When this is done, the stars shall guide the bearer to the Crystal Star with pure light." And it didn't stop there... "Each Crystal Star shall point to the next..." That's what the books say. Which means...if we take the Crystal Star we found back to the Thousand-Year Door..." Said Goombella.

"So...that means the location of the next Crystal Star will appear on that magic map?" Asked Koops.

"Exactly! C'mon! Let's go!"

As our group set off for our trip back to Rogueport, Koopie Koo was quiet the entire time. She barely said a word when we left the town. Needless to say, I was starting to get a bit worried. Mario suddenly started shaking like crazy.

"What the fuck? Mario?" I said inquisitively.

"Mario? Are you OK? You're totally shaking... Do you need a bathroom?" Asked Goombella.

Mario suddenly pulled something out from his right pocket. It looked like a handheld console.

"Da hell is that?" I asked.

"Ooh, is that a Mailbox SP? Cool! With the light? Hey, who's that mail from?" Asked Goombella.

"Let's find out." Said Koopie Koo.

(We began reading the E-Mail.)

"My Dearest Mario, I send this letter in he hope that it reaches you safely. I am being held against my will in some strange place. Though I do not know where I am, I remain unharmed and in relative comfort. Those who have captured me seem to be after the map I sent to you earlier. They may be hoping to find objects they call the "Crystal Stars." I do not know what they are planning, but I have a feeling it is not anything positive. Mario, please collect these Crystal Stars before they do. You must! They are already aware that you have the map, so please be very careful. And please... Don't worry about me. -Princess Peach-

(E-Mail ends.)

"Wow! Wait a second... Isn't that from Princess Peach? THE princess?" Asked Goombella.

"It had to be. There's no other explanation. That had to have been her message." I said to the group.

"So that means she's OK! At least she's not hurt... But it sounds like whoever kidnapped Princess Peach is also after the Crystal Stars..." Said Goombella.

"Sounds like our fat friend from the docks in Rogueport. We should get moving." I said to everyone else.

After an hour of walking and fighting during our trip back to Rogueport, we finally arrived back at the Thousand-Year Door with the Crystal Star beginning to glow inside my chest. When Mario stepped onto the pedestal, its power launched itself from out of my chest and it took back it's original diamond star form. It floated near the pedestal and started resonating with the map as all of the same bright lights from before appeared again. Another beam of light hit the map like before and it revealed a forest-like area with a giant black and white tree in the middle. As the map floated back down to us, I managed to get a closer look at the map. It looked like it was North of Rogueport.

"Ooh! Check it out, guys! The location of the next Crystal Star has appeared. But, I... I... I have NO idea where that is!" Said Goombella.

"Is that a giant tree? And why is it in black and white like the rest of the forest? Hmm... Maybe we should ask the professor about it." I suggested.

"OK... I guess we oughta let Professor Frankly tell us where that place is."

Once we got back to the professor's house, we showed him the new area on the map. He spent about 5 minutes looking it over before we finally heard something from him.

"Hrmm... Mmmm HRRRRMMMM... I see, I see. Crystal clear!"

"Doh-ho-ho-ho. Very funny." I said in a bored and unamused tone.

"Yeah, great pun. C'mon! Where's the next Crystal Star, Professor?" Asked Goombella.

"It's in the Boggly Woods. The second Crystal Star is inside a great tree there." Said Frankly.

"A great tree in the Boggly Woods? OK..." Said Goombella.

"About those woods... I think...some odd creatures live there. If memory serves, there's a pipe beneath town that leads to those woods."

"By the way, Professor... About Princess Peach... Not long ago, Mario received an e-mail from her. It said that the people who kidnapped her are also looking for the Crystal Stars. Oh, and the worst part? She said that she doesn't even know where she is!" Said Goombella.

"Uh-oh. If Princess Peach's kidnappers are also looking for the Crystal Stars... What could they hope to achieve? Could the treasure be... Ugh! Too many unknowns! Unfortunately, the only clues we can rely on are the Crystal Stars and that map."

"Then we'll head for Boggly Woods to find the next Crystal Star! Let's do it!"

"Yes, I recommend you do just that. And find it before the princess's captors do! But don't be hasty! If you're low on items or strength, drop by the shop and inn first. I'll keep researching to learn more about the Crystal Stars and the ancient treasure."

"He's right. First, let's head around town and get some supplies. Second, we'll check out that help center place to see if we can make some extra coinage. Lastly, once we're all set, we'll head to Boggly Woods. Agreed?" I asked.

(Everyone nods their heads in compliance.)

"Alright, then. Let's get going."

As we went to the item shop, we finally got a pair of those contact lenses that ordered earlier in the days before. After we gave them to the old Toad lady, she forgave us and allowed us to pass. Once that was taken care of, we went to the help center and separated from each other to take care of some various odd jobs around Rogueport. We spent a good half-hour until we all came back to the town square.

"Ok. Judging from the amount of money we got from those jobs, the amount of money spent on the lens, that generous donation to that mouse guy back at the harbor, and after I sold that badge we got from Hooktail's castle for 50 coins, how much do we have all together?" I asked.

"44 coins by the looks of it." Said Koopie Koo.

"Not as high as I expected, but it'll do. Now then, let's-"

(BOOOOOOOOOM!)

A sudden blast of lightning came from the sky and created a sphere on the ground at the center of the town. The force of wind that it was generating was pushing everyone away from it. Inside the large sphere was two entities that were kneeling down. As the light disappeared, the entities stood up and everyone nearby got a good look at them both. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They were both humans like me! Well... At least one of them did. The other had his or her

"Whoa... Who are those guys?" Asked a civilian Bandit.

"Dunno, but they don't look friendly..." Said a Goomba civilian.

As the two scanned the area, they both turned their eyes in my direction.

"Man, this is not good..." I thought.

"Rick Evans. Also identified by the alias of Project:Alpha." Said the cloaked one that had a deep voice.

"Must be using a voice changer... Wait... How do these guys...?! Ugh! Levins! The prick won't give up, will he?" I thought.

"That's him? Alright... Rick Evans!" Said the blonde one.

"Who are you guys, anyway?" I asked.

"Our names are Trevor and Eon. We've been sent by MEGATech Inc. to bring you back to Dr. Levins." Said the blonde.

"The hell I will! I'm not going back there ever again!" I snapped at them.

"Don't you see that this is an important contribution you'll be making? You'll be helping mankind!"

"What are you driveling about?"

"Dr. Levins doesn't just want our codes, he wants a new world! He plans on creating a new step in evolution for mankind! His gifts for Earth will bring about a new era!"

"Bull shit! It's nothing but lies! He's telling you about a world that won't ever exist! Are you seriously going to listen to that douche?"

"He only wants what's best for all of us! Can't you see that?"

"All I see is that we're nothing but pawns in his little game! Don't look for something that isn't even there!"

"We're going to bring you back with us, Evans. You're going whether you want to or not." He said in a threatening tone.

"Pffft. I'd like to see you assholes try!"

"We were hoping you'd say that..."

**End of Chapter 6...**

**Author's Note:If anyone has any questions, comments about the story, or if you have an OC you want in the story to be with Rick's group, leave them in the reviews section or just PM me. KingChaotix out!**


End file.
